here's the next chapter. sydney may be a little OCC but i had to do that to make this scene sort of "work". anyways, don't forget to R&R and i hope you enjoy it! ^_^
Chapter Three
She was on the move.
She perked up at her computer screen and rubbed her sleepy eyes. Blast, she thought, did I fall asleep? She cursed out loud for a moment for her vulnerability before focusing her attention of the screen. The surveillance cameras that she set up were catching on for movement near the corner store on the street that Agent Bristow lived on. She saw a woman walk on the street, looking rather conspicuous.
And she looked rather familiar…
"Damn," she grunted, "I thought Vaughn told her to stay put!"
Bristow turned side to side and disappeared into the alleyway beside the corner store.
"Dammit, you baka-somo!" she shouted to the screen. "You've just made a big mistake!"
She stood up, gulping dryly. Vaughn was at the Headquarters speaking to the director and his little club of brass hats and there were no other CIA agents in the neighbourhood. She thought, very briefly, about the assassin and the assassin's built. As she had told Vaughn, the man was like the Incredible Hulk and she feared that if she took him on, she might get crushed. And she was pretty damn….fragile.
But I have a gun and Bristow has her wits. If I don't do something, she argued, then we'd lose a damn good double agent. Vaughn once said she has potential, and that she might be the only person that can bring down SD-6. Not even her father may be able to do what she is capable of doing. And plus, she added sourly, Vaughn will have my head on a silver platter.
She gulped again.
She reached out for the table where her belt and her gun sat, just in case of an emergency. She gritted her teeth as she glared at her own gun. She remembered how much her superiors objected someone her age to be holding a gun, but she remembered how Vaughn fought to her the right to carry one in case of a dangerous situation. She owed him that much.
She attached the gun belt on her waist, grabbed her jacket and left.
The alleyway was dark like any other, but Sydney felt a chill creep down her spine. Maybe I should turn back now, one side told her but the other forced calm. You're a special agent for crying out loud and you're afraid or some silly alleyway? She rolled her eyes, told herself to calm down before continuing to walk down the alleyway.
It was mostly damp and garbage carts and cans littered the walls. Graffiti covered the brick walls and hardly any sunshine was pouring through. She could barely see beyond a couple of meters without stopping and looking around.
Suddenly, she felt as though someone was with her.
She pivoted around on her heel and she saw a figure looming over her. The guy was over six feet tall and was all power. She could tell he had massive strength by the outline of her muscles and her body figure. For a moment, she wondered whether she'd survive a fight with the guy. She couldn't see a face…or much of anything in the dark. But the man was giving her the creeps and he was blocking her exit out of the alleyway.
"You said I had to meet you here if I wanted my friend's life preserved," she told him coldly. "Now I'm here."
"Indeed," the man said icily, "you are."
Suddenly, she crashed down to the wet floors, a burning sensation on her cheek. The son of a bitch punched her! Now someone was definitely going to pay, whether it was dark or not. She was ready to get up and fight the guy in the dark when she heard a click. For any normal person, it could've been any kind of click. But to Sydney, she knew that kind of clicking sound all to well. It was the click when someone was preparing their gun for the kill. To that sound, she gulped timidly. She was so wrong---she should've stayed home, listened to Vaughn's advice.
God, I'm so sorry! She thought. I'm so sorry for what I'm going to do!
"Now," the assassin said, "we end this."
She was ready to attack the unknown person but got confused because she didn't know what happened for the next few moments. She was expecting to hear a bang from the gun, but instead, she heard a thud and a crash. She heard something slide on the damp cement floor and some crushing knocks. To the sound of it, a newcomer had crashed on the assassin, knocking the gun out of his hand and judging by the swift sounds, they were fighting in the dark.
Sydney suddenly felt like she was the damsel in distress and that made her flush in embarrassment. Sydney's hand darted out, in search for a gun. In the dim outline of the alleyway, she found the outline of the gun, about a meter from her. She was beginning to become accustomed to the darkness, as she crept towards the gun. Her fingers gripped around the gun as she brought it up and turned around.
She could now see the combatants. The newcomer was a lot shorter than the assassin and was keeping him busy. She found it hard to keep aim due to the darkness and because they were both moving very fast. She gritted her teeth---just stay in one place, will you! Out of anxiety, she did a warning shot, whizzing the two off by fractions.
"Watch where you shoot that, will you? You nearly blew my head off there," the newcomer croaked sardonically, clearly a woman and clearly younger than Sydney had initially thought. And surprisingly, the girl had a dry sense of humour, even in the middle of a fight. Amazing.
The newcomer then punched the assassin, knocking him back onto the wall. The newcomer leaped back, ready to attack again. Sydney could not see the figure of the newcomer well because of the place they were in. Darn it, she cursed inwardly. All she could catch was the fact that her saviour wore a black sweatshirt with a matching hood.
"I'll be back," he said, clearly to Sydney, "this time, without your bodyguard." He then charged towards the farthest end of the alleyway, leaping onto a staircase railing and disappearing onto the rooftop.
Sydney sighed in exhaustion. The man was not bluffing. She turned to the newcomer, whom she couldn't really see still because of the darkness of the alley. "Um, thank you," she told her, "for jumping in like that. How did you know I was here? Who are you?"
"You're lucky I came in the nick of time before he blew you into kingdom come," the newcomer said dryly as she struggled to her feet upright. "It doesn't matter who I am. All you need to know is that I'm a friend. Jumping in at such timing---ah, hell, doesn't matter. It's good to know that I'm still fit." She turned around. "Just listen to what Vaughn says, alright? It would make my job so much easier." She then ran and disappeared out the alley and onto the streets of Los Angeles.
Sydney was now standing in the alleyway, still holding the gun. She's the informant that Vaughn must confide with! She realized. How else would she had told her to listen to what he had to say? He had told her that his informant was going to take care of the assassin and now Sydney had made things harder for the informant to complete.
Life just kept getting better and better.
Now it was Vaughn's turn to start shouting.
"Were you nuts, Sydney?" he cried. "Didn't I tell you to keep a low profile until we get this thing beat? I mean, my informant would never call you by phone, she would've done something a little more creative. She wouldn't expose herself that easily. And now not only did the assassin get away but her cover is blown! It's be twice as knock that guy off your trail now!" He sighed and collapsed on the chair beside her, weary.
They were both sitting in Vaughn's office, courtesy of Vaughn's nameless informant, who had reported in, under orders. Sydney didn't exactly blame the informant for telling Vaughn, it was partially Sydney's fault. But Vaughn didn't have to be so insensitive about it.
Vaughn sighed again. "I-I'm sorry," he told her earnestly as he caught Sydney's disapproving gaze. "It's just that…gosh, it's been a really hard day and with this maniac running around trying to target you out of existence…the workload is just too high." He rubbed his eyes. "And amidst all this, I ask myself, 'Where has all the caffeine gone?'"
Sydney chuckled briefly.
Vaughn smiled.
"Anyways, I never told you why I had to leave this morning," he continued, recovering his callousness. "I got a call from my informant. She said that Headquarters just got some very interesting information that your father distributed to us on their laps." He watched her eyes glower icily and her jaw muscles tighten. He sighed; he would never truly understand that burning anger she had for her father. "The Boss called for a meeting. Your father will present it in about thirty minutes."
"Who's coming?"
He thought for a brief moment. "Well, you, me, your father, and some person representing the Boss named Valenti," he then said, brushing back his hair wearily and leaning back on the comfortable chair. He looked positively harassed and definitely not looking forward to the meeting. Whatever it was got Vaughn looking all worked up.
"How about your precious informant?" he asked.
He yawned. "What about her?" Apparently, he gave up on covering his informant's gender.
She gave him a look. "Isn't she going to come, figuring that this information might benefit her in protecting me a little more…subtly?" she asked. She was curious; that girl looked pretty intriguing. She didn't even get a good look of her but her voice was something else. It had some sort of strenght…some sort of coolness that Sydney found intriguing.
"The Director doesn't want her leaving the post," he replied with a twinge of regret. Apparently, the director didn't want her to hear of this information. As much as he protested, the Director gave the excuse that his informant was not even a junior officer. True, she wasn't exactly trained fully in the CIA yet, but that didn't stop her from following everything by the book. She would be terribly disappointed. In fact, Vaughn expected her to be screaming bloody murder when he got home. "So she's not coming."
"Really?"
"Really."
"How much time do I have left to kill before the meeting?" she asked.
"About an hour," he told her, eyeing her carefully. "About enough time for you to get changed. God, you look like a wreck," he added. A cryptic smile appeared briefly on her lips as he fought to keep his own grin at bay. Balls of steel, Mike, balls of steel, he told himself. He cleared his throat briefly and then told her, "I think you have enough time to get to your place and back---provided you got a car."
Sydney blinked. "Why, Vaughn, are you saying you'd ride me back?"
"I suppose I am," he replied, "although I don't think I can drive you---"
"No problem." She put out her hand and waited for his keys.
Will was in a crappy mood.
He sat in his desk, paper before him, twiddling with his pencil.
But nothing was coming out. All he kept thinking about was this "Vaughn" character. Who was he? Where was he from? What was his occupation? How come he never saw him before in all of the years he knew Sydney? Things weren't adding up, especially the part where he suddenly left. He didn't believe that they were just co-workers.
"Will?"
He said nothing as he continued to fiddle with his pencil.
Jenny, his assistant, snatched the pencil out of his hand and looked down at him, hands on her hips. Will blinked, slightly dazed at the sudden, rapid movements. "What is up with you today, Mister?" she demanded, slightly teasing and slightly concerned.
"Huh?"
"Lemme guess," she said, taking a seat in front of Will, "it's Sydney."
"How'd you figure?" he said with a pout.
Jenny shrugged, a sly smile on her lips. "What can I say, when I'm good, I'm good," she told him with a wink. When she saw his sagged shoulders, she grew more serious. "What's wrong, Will?" She paused, chewing thoughtfully on her lip. "Lemme guess on this one---you caught her with someone else, huh?"
"Actually," he replied, "I came over to give her some coffee this morning and…well, I saw her with the company of someone else, with coffee in her hand. Someone I have never seen before in my life." He shrugged, wincing at the thought. "I guess it's bugging me pretty bad. Especially since he beat me to giving her some coffee!"
Jenny winced. "Whoa, that is bad!" she exclaimed. "I feel so sorry for you---you really got it bad."
"Tell me about it."
"What's the guy's name?" she asked with a smile.
"Why do you care?" He swerved around, sulking.
She got up from the chair and walked around to face him. "Because…is he cute?"
Will groaned and looked at his assistant. "Does it look like I'm gay?" he demanded.
Jenny got up, all annoyed now. She huffed and folded her arms angrily. "Geez, who crawled up your ass and got you all bitchy?" she snapped. "You can't blame a girl for being curious." She threw the pencil onto his table, which rolled to the floor. "Go on and brood about the love of your life. Like that's gonna help." She then stalked off.
"Jenny!"
But she was gone.
Sydney felt like she was going to die. Beside her sat Vaughn, his stolid figure unwavering as he tried to conceal his boredom. The minutes were ticking away ever so slowly, ever since they had returned from her place. She felt much better now that the muck was off her skin, but she felt increasingly fidgety. She wanted to know what was going on.
As if he read her thoughts, Vaughn bent over and whispered, "Patience, Syd."
She gave him a nervous smile. "I'm not impatient."
"You are hell nervous."
"I haven't seen my father in a while," she replied briskly, "especially here."
He squeezed her shoulder gently, something he never done before. It was a startling move from both the giver and the receiver. "Don't worry," he reassured her gently, "you'll do just fine."
She sighed. "I hope so."
The door suddenly opened to reveal two other people; Sydney's father and a middle-aged man. The newcomer was a very vigorous-looking figure with such a straight looks that it made Sydney want to cry. He looked like he was dead serious with no sense of life within him, just like some of the agents she worked with within the SD-6. What was even worse was that he was with her father, the father she had barely knew.
They took a seat, Sydney's father directly in front of her. She executed a curt nod at her father, who stared at her for a brief moment before returning the gesture. She heard Vaughn mutter the briefest of hellos to the thin man as the man took his seat at the head of the desk.
"Okay," the man said thinly, "I'm going to skip the formals. Agent Sydney Bristow, I am Agent Norman Valenti. The Director asked me to represent him in this meeting today. I am sorry for pulling you out like this, but we figured it was either now or never." He nodded to Sydney's father. "Jack, if you may."
Jack Bristow nodded at the representative. "Well, it's very simple," he told them. "I've been watching the transition within SD-6 for some quite time while Sloane was assigning many new and challenging assignments for Agent Bristow here. Apparently, there are some higher-ups that not very many people are aware within the system and that may be the trouble."
"How so?" Sydney asked intently.
Something briefly flickered in her father's eyes as he cleared his throat abruptly. "There are some fractions within SD-6 that do not entirely agree with Sloane's---um, leadership within SD-6," he replied dryly. "They think that he is not fit to lead SD-6 and figure that they can do a better job."
"Hoe many fractions are we talking about here?" Sydney inquired.
Jack brushed his hand absently across his forehead. He looks pretty tired, Sydney thought as she shifted the pressure from her legs. "I can't give you an exact amount on who's involved, but I do know it's more than one person involved. And they're really well wedged within the program that it's hard to figure out who it is. I'm still looking into it."
Vaughn sighed. "This is going to be tough," he finally said. "It's going to be like looking for a needle amidst a haystack. Do you even know what you're looking for?"
"Not yet," Sydney's father admitted coldly. "But I'm doing my very best."
Valenti nodded. "Yes, we are," he supported, gesturing for Jack to sit down again, preparing for the entire briefing. "This is pretty serious now. We need to know exactly what is going on behind enemy lines. If there is a little quarrel going on behind Credit Dauphine, we need to know. This may be our chance to learn and perhaps weaken the entire command structure of SD-6, which can be the most crippling blow to them to this date."
Jack straightened his posture. "Our orders, sir?"
"Go back and keep narrowing down the search field," Valenti quipped, looking at each of them sharply. Sydney tried hard to control her shudder. "We must find out who is after Agent Sydney Bristow here and why they are after her. Agent Vaughn, your main priority right now is ensuring Agent Bristow's safety here. You all have your orders. Dismissed." He then got up and stalked out of the room like a mean old man. Jack didn't stay for another moment as he gave Sydney a slight nod and a hard glare to Vaughn before disappearing out the door right after.
Boy, was this going to be a long afternoon. He cleared his throat in hopes that he sounded like a gentleman. "So…you hungry?"
Chapter Three
She was on the move.
She perked up at her computer screen and rubbed her sleepy eyes. Blast, she thought, did I fall asleep? She cursed out loud for a moment for her vulnerability before focusing her attention of the screen. The surveillance cameras that she set up were catching on for movement near the corner store on the street that Agent Bristow lived on. She saw a woman walk on the street, looking rather conspicuous.
And she looked rather familiar…
"Damn," she grunted, "I thought Vaughn told her to stay put!"
Bristow turned side to side and disappeared into the alleyway beside the corner store.
"Dammit, you baka-somo!" she shouted to the screen. "You've just made a big mistake!"
She stood up, gulping dryly. Vaughn was at the Headquarters speaking to the director and his little club of brass hats and there were no other CIA agents in the neighbourhood. She thought, very briefly, about the assassin and the assassin's built. As she had told Vaughn, the man was like the Incredible Hulk and she feared that if she took him on, she might get crushed. And she was pretty damn….fragile.
But I have a gun and Bristow has her wits. If I don't do something, she argued, then we'd lose a damn good double agent. Vaughn once said she has potential, and that she might be the only person that can bring down SD-6. Not even her father may be able to do what she is capable of doing. And plus, she added sourly, Vaughn will have my head on a silver platter.
She gulped again.
She reached out for the table where her belt and her gun sat, just in case of an emergency. She gritted her teeth as she glared at her own gun. She remembered how much her superiors objected someone her age to be holding a gun, but she remembered how Vaughn fought to her the right to carry one in case of a dangerous situation. She owed him that much.
She attached the gun belt on her waist, grabbed her jacket and left.
The alleyway was dark like any other, but Sydney felt a chill creep down her spine. Maybe I should turn back now, one side told her but the other forced calm. You're a special agent for crying out loud and you're afraid or some silly alleyway? She rolled her eyes, told herself to calm down before continuing to walk down the alleyway.
It was mostly damp and garbage carts and cans littered the walls. Graffiti covered the brick walls and hardly any sunshine was pouring through. She could barely see beyond a couple of meters without stopping and looking around.
Suddenly, she felt as though someone was with her.
She pivoted around on her heel and she saw a figure looming over her. The guy was over six feet tall and was all power. She could tell he had massive strength by the outline of her muscles and her body figure. For a moment, she wondered whether she'd survive a fight with the guy. She couldn't see a face…or much of anything in the dark. But the man was giving her the creeps and he was blocking her exit out of the alleyway.
"You said I had to meet you here if I wanted my friend's life preserved," she told him coldly. "Now I'm here."
"Indeed," the man said icily, "you are."
Suddenly, she crashed down to the wet floors, a burning sensation on her cheek. The son of a bitch punched her! Now someone was definitely going to pay, whether it was dark or not. She was ready to get up and fight the guy in the dark when she heard a click. For any normal person, it could've been any kind of click. But to Sydney, she knew that kind of clicking sound all to well. It was the click when someone was preparing their gun for the kill. To that sound, she gulped timidly. She was so wrong---she should've stayed home, listened to Vaughn's advice.
God, I'm so sorry! She thought. I'm so sorry for what I'm going to do!
"Now," the assassin said, "we end this."
She was ready to attack the unknown person but got confused because she didn't know what happened for the next few moments. She was expecting to hear a bang from the gun, but instead, she heard a thud and a crash. She heard something slide on the damp cement floor and some crushing knocks. To the sound of it, a newcomer had crashed on the assassin, knocking the gun out of his hand and judging by the swift sounds, they were fighting in the dark.
Sydney suddenly felt like she was the damsel in distress and that made her flush in embarrassment. Sydney's hand darted out, in search for a gun. In the dim outline of the alleyway, she found the outline of the gun, about a meter from her. She was beginning to become accustomed to the darkness, as she crept towards the gun. Her fingers gripped around the gun as she brought it up and turned around.
She could now see the combatants. The newcomer was a lot shorter than the assassin and was keeping him busy. She found it hard to keep aim due to the darkness and because they were both moving very fast. She gritted her teeth---just stay in one place, will you! Out of anxiety, she did a warning shot, whizzing the two off by fractions.
"Watch where you shoot that, will you? You nearly blew my head off there," the newcomer croaked sardonically, clearly a woman and clearly younger than Sydney had initially thought. And surprisingly, the girl had a dry sense of humour, even in the middle of a fight. Amazing.
The newcomer then punched the assassin, knocking him back onto the wall. The newcomer leaped back, ready to attack again. Sydney could not see the figure of the newcomer well because of the place they were in. Darn it, she cursed inwardly. All she could catch was the fact that her saviour wore a black sweatshirt with a matching hood.
"I'll be back," he said, clearly to Sydney, "this time, without your bodyguard." He then charged towards the farthest end of the alleyway, leaping onto a staircase railing and disappearing onto the rooftop.
Sydney sighed in exhaustion. The man was not bluffing. She turned to the newcomer, whom she couldn't really see still because of the darkness of the alley. "Um, thank you," she told her, "for jumping in like that. How did you know I was here? Who are you?"
"You're lucky I came in the nick of time before he blew you into kingdom come," the newcomer said dryly as she struggled to her feet upright. "It doesn't matter who I am. All you need to know is that I'm a friend. Jumping in at such timing---ah, hell, doesn't matter. It's good to know that I'm still fit." She turned around. "Just listen to what Vaughn says, alright? It would make my job so much easier." She then ran and disappeared out the alley and onto the streets of Los Angeles.
Sydney was now standing in the alleyway, still holding the gun. She's the informant that Vaughn must confide with! She realized. How else would she had told her to listen to what he had to say? He had told her that his informant was going to take care of the assassin and now Sydney had made things harder for the informant to complete.
Life just kept getting better and better.
Now it was Vaughn's turn to start shouting.
"Were you nuts, Sydney?" he cried. "Didn't I tell you to keep a low profile until we get this thing beat? I mean, my informant would never call you by phone, she would've done something a little more creative. She wouldn't expose herself that easily. And now not only did the assassin get away but her cover is blown! It's be twice as knock that guy off your trail now!" He sighed and collapsed on the chair beside her, weary.
They were both sitting in Vaughn's office, courtesy of Vaughn's nameless informant, who had reported in, under orders. Sydney didn't exactly blame the informant for telling Vaughn, it was partially Sydney's fault. But Vaughn didn't have to be so insensitive about it.
Vaughn sighed again. "I-I'm sorry," he told her earnestly as he caught Sydney's disapproving gaze. "It's just that…gosh, it's been a really hard day and with this maniac running around trying to target you out of existence…the workload is just too high." He rubbed his eyes. "And amidst all this, I ask myself, 'Where has all the caffeine gone?'"
Sydney chuckled briefly.
Vaughn smiled.
"Anyways, I never told you why I had to leave this morning," he continued, recovering his callousness. "I got a call from my informant. She said that Headquarters just got some very interesting information that your father distributed to us on their laps." He watched her eyes glower icily and her jaw muscles tighten. He sighed; he would never truly understand that burning anger she had for her father. "The Boss called for a meeting. Your father will present it in about thirty minutes."
"Who's coming?"
He thought for a brief moment. "Well, you, me, your father, and some person representing the Boss named Valenti," he then said, brushing back his hair wearily and leaning back on the comfortable chair. He looked positively harassed and definitely not looking forward to the meeting. Whatever it was got Vaughn looking all worked up.
"How about your precious informant?" he asked.
He yawned. "What about her?" Apparently, he gave up on covering his informant's gender.
She gave him a look. "Isn't she going to come, figuring that this information might benefit her in protecting me a little more…subtly?" she asked. She was curious; that girl looked pretty intriguing. She didn't even get a good look of her but her voice was something else. It had some sort of strenght…some sort of coolness that Sydney found intriguing.
"The Director doesn't want her leaving the post," he replied with a twinge of regret. Apparently, the director didn't want her to hear of this information. As much as he protested, the Director gave the excuse that his informant was not even a junior officer. True, she wasn't exactly trained fully in the CIA yet, but that didn't stop her from following everything by the book. She would be terribly disappointed. In fact, Vaughn expected her to be screaming bloody murder when he got home. "So she's not coming."
"Really?"
"Really."
"How much time do I have left to kill before the meeting?" she asked.
"About an hour," he told her, eyeing her carefully. "About enough time for you to get changed. God, you look like a wreck," he added. A cryptic smile appeared briefly on her lips as he fought to keep his own grin at bay. Balls of steel, Mike, balls of steel, he told himself. He cleared his throat briefly and then told her, "I think you have enough time to get to your place and back---provided you got a car."
Sydney blinked. "Why, Vaughn, are you saying you'd ride me back?"
"I suppose I am," he replied, "although I don't think I can drive you---"
"No problem." She put out her hand and waited for his keys.
Will was in a crappy mood.
He sat in his desk, paper before him, twiddling with his pencil.
But nothing was coming out. All he kept thinking about was this "Vaughn" character. Who was he? Where was he from? What was his occupation? How come he never saw him before in all of the years he knew Sydney? Things weren't adding up, especially the part where he suddenly left. He didn't believe that they were just co-workers.
"Will?"
He said nothing as he continued to fiddle with his pencil.
Jenny, his assistant, snatched the pencil out of his hand and looked down at him, hands on her hips. Will blinked, slightly dazed at the sudden, rapid movements. "What is up with you today, Mister?" she demanded, slightly teasing and slightly concerned.
"Huh?"
"Lemme guess," she said, taking a seat in front of Will, "it's Sydney."
"How'd you figure?" he said with a pout.
Jenny shrugged, a sly smile on her lips. "What can I say, when I'm good, I'm good," she told him with a wink. When she saw his sagged shoulders, she grew more serious. "What's wrong, Will?" She paused, chewing thoughtfully on her lip. "Lemme guess on this one---you caught her with someone else, huh?"
"Actually," he replied, "I came over to give her some coffee this morning and…well, I saw her with the company of someone else, with coffee in her hand. Someone I have never seen before in my life." He shrugged, wincing at the thought. "I guess it's bugging me pretty bad. Especially since he beat me to giving her some coffee!"
Jenny winced. "Whoa, that is bad!" she exclaimed. "I feel so sorry for you---you really got it bad."
"Tell me about it."
"What's the guy's name?" she asked with a smile.
"Why do you care?" He swerved around, sulking.
She got up from the chair and walked around to face him. "Because…is he cute?"
Will groaned and looked at his assistant. "Does it look like I'm gay?" he demanded.
Jenny got up, all annoyed now. She huffed and folded her arms angrily. "Geez, who crawled up your ass and got you all bitchy?" she snapped. "You can't blame a girl for being curious." She threw the pencil onto his table, which rolled to the floor. "Go on and brood about the love of your life. Like that's gonna help." She then stalked off.
"Jenny!"
But she was gone.
Sydney felt like she was going to die. Beside her sat Vaughn, his stolid figure unwavering as he tried to conceal his boredom. The minutes were ticking away ever so slowly, ever since they had returned from her place. She felt much better now that the muck was off her skin, but she felt increasingly fidgety. She wanted to know what was going on.
As if he read her thoughts, Vaughn bent over and whispered, "Patience, Syd."
She gave him a nervous smile. "I'm not impatient."
"You are hell nervous."
"I haven't seen my father in a while," she replied briskly, "especially here."
He squeezed her shoulder gently, something he never done before. It was a startling move from both the giver and the receiver. "Don't worry," he reassured her gently, "you'll do just fine."
She sighed. "I hope so."
The door suddenly opened to reveal two other people; Sydney's father and a middle-aged man. The newcomer was a very vigorous-looking figure with such a straight looks that it made Sydney want to cry. He looked like he was dead serious with no sense of life within him, just like some of the agents she worked with within the SD-6. What was even worse was that he was with her father, the father she had barely knew.
They took a seat, Sydney's father directly in front of her. She executed a curt nod at her father, who stared at her for a brief moment before returning the gesture. She heard Vaughn mutter the briefest of hellos to the thin man as the man took his seat at the head of the desk.
"Okay," the man said thinly, "I'm going to skip the formals. Agent Sydney Bristow, I am Agent Norman Valenti. The Director asked me to represent him in this meeting today. I am sorry for pulling you out like this, but we figured it was either now or never." He nodded to Sydney's father. "Jack, if you may."
Jack Bristow nodded at the representative. "Well, it's very simple," he told them. "I've been watching the transition within SD-6 for some quite time while Sloane was assigning many new and challenging assignments for Agent Bristow here. Apparently, there are some higher-ups that not very many people are aware within the system and that may be the trouble."
"How so?" Sydney asked intently.
Something briefly flickered in her father's eyes as he cleared his throat abruptly. "There are some fractions within SD-6 that do not entirely agree with Sloane's---um, leadership within SD-6," he replied dryly. "They think that he is not fit to lead SD-6 and figure that they can do a better job."
"Hoe many fractions are we talking about here?" Sydney inquired.
Jack brushed his hand absently across his forehead. He looks pretty tired, Sydney thought as she shifted the pressure from her legs. "I can't give you an exact amount on who's involved, but I do know it's more than one person involved. And they're really well wedged within the program that it's hard to figure out who it is. I'm still looking into it."
Vaughn sighed. "This is going to be tough," he finally said. "It's going to be like looking for a needle amidst a haystack. Do you even know what you're looking for?"
"Not yet," Sydney's father admitted coldly. "But I'm doing my very best."
Valenti nodded. "Yes, we are," he supported, gesturing for Jack to sit down again, preparing for the entire briefing. "This is pretty serious now. We need to know exactly what is going on behind enemy lines. If there is a little quarrel going on behind Credit Dauphine, we need to know. This may be our chance to learn and perhaps weaken the entire command structure of SD-6, which can be the most crippling blow to them to this date."
Jack straightened his posture. "Our orders, sir?"
"Go back and keep narrowing down the search field," Valenti quipped, looking at each of them sharply. Sydney tried hard to control her shudder. "We must find out who is after Agent Sydney Bristow here and why they are after her. Agent Vaughn, your main priority right now is ensuring Agent Bristow's safety here. You all have your orders. Dismissed." He then got up and stalked out of the room like a mean old man. Jack didn't stay for another moment as he gave Sydney a slight nod and a hard glare to Vaughn before disappearing out the door right after.
Boy, was this going to be a long afternoon. He cleared his throat in hopes that he sounded like a gentleman. "So…you hungry?"