sorry i took so long to post it, but here it is. btw, i have no idea how hypnosis works, so....here we go
Chapter Eight
Sydney walked into Credit Dauphine, dressed in a crisp business suit, trying to look as eager as she could to return to work. Outside, she looked calm and normally ready to tackle anything---the slight bruise indicated her recent illness for them. Inside, however, she felt worried and paranoid with her surroundings. After all, she was entering enemy territory but the feeling had heightened ever since she had found out that she was being followed.
The fact that someone was watching her from within was scary.
To add to her moodiness, her argument with Will still crept behind her like some impending storm. She knew that she should've been a little more kinder to him, after all, they'd been friends for over three years, give or take three months. But Vaughn and her own safety was on the line and she couldn't afford that. For Vaughn's sake, she couldn't afford that. But she felt so bad after she had closed the door---she couldn't afford to lose her old friends.
But she couldn't afford to lose Vaughn, either.
It was a lose-lose situation.
She sighed as she entered the actually chambers of SD-6. She walked down the aisle, politely nodding hello and smiling like she did on every other normal day in the office. That is, if she considered her days a normal one.
Dixon, her partner, walked up to her and smiled, kissing her on both cheeks. "Sydney," he greeted, "it's so good to see you back, up and about. I hope that you're feeling a lot better now." His attention drew towards her cheek. Her bruise was still fairly visible but it was slowly healing. "What happened to your cheek?" he asked, pointing at it.
"Oh, that," she said with a dismissive wave. "I fell over yesterday morning and slammed my cheek on the night stand. It hurt like a bastard, but it's a lot better now." She smiled at him. God, how she hated to lie to him, her friend. But she had no choice; she had to cover these things up otherwise Sloane would have her head.
Literally.
Dixon did not detect the lie, if he had at all. "Well, you can check out in the medical department before you leave," he told her. "Come now---Sloane's called on for another mission and we're meeting in a few minutes."
She allowed him to lead the way. She carefully followed his steps behind him, at the same time, her eyes wandered to the various cubicles. People were busy on their phones and on the computer and chatting away. It was a quiet and organized work place. Many of the people she knew only by acquaintance but nonetheless, she examined everyone. They all looked so normal.
This was going to be harder than she initially expected.
They entered the polished conference room. She already saw Sloane sitting at the head of the table, looking out into space. The moment he saw Sydney enter the room, his face became animate as he sat up straight in his chair. She did a polite nod towards him and she saw a faint smile creep alone his thin lips. She turned away; somehow, she couldn't completely bring herself to returning their working relationship back to the way it was---not since Danny's death.
Marshall was also seated, fiddling with something. He looked up to see Dixon and Sydney take their seats and smiled. "H-Hey Sydney---Nice to see you, um, around, um, again."
"Thanks, Marshall."
"No, um---no problem."
Sydney was disturbed to find that her father was not in the room. She had assumed that her father would be attending the meeting but it appears he would be late. Maybe he was at the CIA headquarters at the moment, pre-occupied with the latest developments. Or maybe she was conspiring with some unknown sect---God, she sometimes wished that she wasn't in this life. She wished she was living in an ordinary life. She wished she never took that damned white card.
"Okay," Sloane said, leaning over the table and looking at each member in the eye, "we've gotten a situation here. The computer fluxes have increased randomly from cubicle to cubicle. Half of the computers in the department is non-operatable. Marshall here with explain our situation in a more---detailed outlook." He nodded towards the computer technician.
Marshall got up. "Um, well, it's pretty simple," he said. "After the power drain security leak a few months back, things haven't been at, um, well, peak efficiency. T-There are various leaks that, um, I have been really, um, trying to…er, plug up. The past month, um, it's gotten um, worse. There's something that---that is hitting our main s-sytems and just, um, crashing nodes. Only a, well, a few are style operating at, well, normal capacity."
Sydney found her loophole. "Whose computers are still working?" she asked.
He scratched his head, wincing. "Um…well, Hasina's is um, working. Carl, George, Harriet, Yalila and Ben's are, um, all working…normally," he replied.
"Thank you, Marshall," Sloane replied thinly. He turned to Dixon and Sydney as Marshall fussed back into his seat. "We have a security breach. This is not good---without our computers, we'll be blind to the outside world. We cannot allow this to break out to the remainder of the network. I have our top technicians deep at work, trying to plug this, but the source of these fluxes are virtually unknown. In the meantime, I want you to check all units personally for anything unusual."
"We'll do our best," Dixon assured.
"I know. You are dismissed. Oh, except you, Sydney."
Sydney gulped slightly as she watched Marshall and Dixon exit the room. She felt her heartbeat quicken and the heat slip away from her face. What did Sloane want to talk to her about? Was it over the slip up the night before? Or was it about something worse? Tell me it's just about the bruise on my cheek, she prayed.
"Sydney," Sloane said once the door was closed. He leaned over closer and that movement made a chill run down Sydney's spine. What was he up to? What did he want from her? "It's nice to see you up and about again. I admit, it's been pretty quiet around here without your radiant energy bouncing off the walls." She smiled shyly as he continued, "I must stress, you look a little paranoid and a little distressed."
"Oh," she replied, trying to hide her profound guilt, "it's nothing."
"You sure about it?" he asked gently, his eyes in direct contact with hers. Sydney felt exposed under his watchful eye as underneath the table she shifted weight with great discomfort. "Because if something is bothering you, you can tell me. You can always tell me."
She couldn't deal with it. She got up abruptly. "I have to get to work," she told him stiffly. "I missed a lot of stuff for the past two days. I wouldn't want to be kept behind from everything that's been going on." She tried to hide her shaking legs; she was running on pure fear of being exposed. After what happened with being exposed as a mole, she was afraid of slipping up again.
He leaned back on his desk, folding his fingers on his lap. "Okay," he replied calmly with a gesture of dismissal, a wary smile played on his lips. From there on, she walked as fast as she could out of the conference room.
"Did you find him yet?"
"We're doing our best---but we found this."
"What is it, you idiot?"
"It's a video camera, sir. A small but efficient one."
"Have you run a DNA test?"
"Everything sir---no fingerprints whatsoever."
"How about the component match?"
"Nothing we've ever seen, sir."
"So I'm assuming he's been caught---hmm, Sloane, what are you up to?"
"Um…sir?"
"Well, don't just stand there, you fool, keep searching for Folken!"
"Sir?" Marshall asked, sticking his head into the office of Sloane.
Sloane looked up in mild surprise from a report he was reading, but his expression turned into exasperation when he saw that it was only Marshall. He lifted his free hand and gestured his head technician to enter the office. Marshall bumbled in, shutting the door behind him. Sloane in return placed the report down.
"Yes, Marshall, what can I do for you?" Sloane asked professionally.
Marshall nodded quickly. "I was just updating our server and contacting some…you know, uh, some buddies of mine for some, you know, updates," he explained. "Someone's asking questions about, you know, the entire grid, particularly of some profiles of the….the agents here in SD-6."
This seemed to upset Sloane but he kept it bottled up. "Who is this…inquirer?"
"Some guy n-named Will Tippin…a reporter."
Sloane's eyes widened. "Sydney's friend…"
"Y-Yes sir…"
Sloane nodded and swerved his chair around so Marshall wouldn't see him ponder on the thought. He had already reluctantly ordered the death of Sydney's fiancé, Daniel Hecht, because he was a security leak to SD-6's welfare and now Sydney's friend, the reporter, was sticking his nose in matters that did not concern his. He did not wish to hurt Sydney again but the agency came first, as always. He must straighten out this reporter's curiosity once and for all.
Sloane cleared his throat. "Thank you for informing me of this, Marshall."
"You…You're welcome, sir." He then left the room.
Sloane sat there for a full minute, his fingers pressing against each other in silent thought. He did not wish to do this, but he had to do what was best for the agency. He would have to explain it to Sydney later on…if she ever found out.
He picked up the phone on his table. "Harrison…you know what to do."
"Will," his boss called as she walked up to his cubicle.
Will looked up, his brow furrowed in a frown. He was busy typing away on his laptop and was at first annoyed to hear someone even call his name. After seeing what he saw that morning, he was really to go up and rip someone's throat out. When he saw his boss's annoyed face, he quickly dropped the pissed off act before he got fired.
That's what he was missing---getting fired. That way, his day would be perfect.
"Um…yes, ma'am?" he asked as sweetly as he could.
She dumped a file onto Will's table, making his papers fly off the table. "What the hell did you give me this morning?!" she demanded.
"Um…my article?"
"A piece of crap is what you gave me," she snapped back angrily, slamming her palm onto the folder. She lifted the article and displayed it to him. "I mean, look at it! Look at it! It looks like a two year old's writing! No emotion! No strength! No soul!" She dropped it back onto Will's table and glowered down at him. "I want this retyped and handed back in by four this afternoon otherwise I will kick your butt, William Tippin, out that door and you can kiss your reputation bye-bye!"
"Y-Yes ma'am," Will replied dryly.
His boss turned around, shaking her head. "Where are these kids going to these days."
Will mocked her movements as she exited the working place, grumbling to herself. He then sulked on his seat. No soul…no soul? He's show her soul. Maybe I should write the biography of my life, he thought sullenly. Then she'd understand how much soul he had going on in his mind. And she would also realize how much bad luck I've gotten over the last three years.
He sighed. God, I hate my life, he thought to himself.
He didn't realize that someone had approached his desk. He looked up, ready to snap, when he saw that it was Jenny. She looked visibly concerned as she sat down in front of him. "I heard what the Boss said," she told him. "She doesn't look like a happy champ today."
"When is she ever?" he asked, brushing back his blonde hair. "God, Jenny, how could I have been such a screw-up these past few years? Then again, these problems started coming up ever since Danny proposed to Sydney and then got murdered…" His voice trailed off when he saw Jenny's eyes. He sighed heavily. "Jenny, I just don't know what to do anymore, I don't know how to deal."
He was surprised when Jenny reached across the table and took his hand. "Tell you what," she said, "you need a break. A break from all this." She gestured around in the office. "I'm visiting my brother in San Francisco. You want to come with me?" She smiled and batted her long and delicate lashes. "I swear to you it'll be fun."
Will thought for a moment. It was a very tempting offer and he needed to get away from everything here in Los Angeles. He needed some time to think about everything that had happened the past few months and saw this as the perfect opportunity. What could go wrong? What could he lose? But there was something in his way.
"How do I get the Boss to clear me out?"
She smirked. "Leave that up to me, Will." She then kissed his cheek and ran towards the office with an excuse in mind.
The hit man was in a room, seated across a long table in a small but clean room. He was handcuffed to the chair so he wouldn't attack anyone or try to escape. His eyes were dull as he was under the doctor's trance. Doctor Tamakawa was a short and aging doctor but despite his outward appearance, he was brilliant and his skills were still sharp.
Nadia had never witness a hypnosis until now and she stood behind the glass. Beside her, Valenti stood with a permanent scowl imprinted on his weathered face. She had never seen a man scowl so much in her life. He must be worried, she thought. Then again, so am I. Here I am, witnessing an attempt to glimpse into a murderer's mind---considered that he is one. She shuddered again.
The young officer was introduced as Agent Jason Lee. He was a junior officer who just got into the CIA about a year or two ago and appeared nice and ambitious. He was also a good three to four years old than her. He was currently stationed doing minor things such as surveillence and paperwork but he didn't mind. She had wished she had a job like his, doing the simple work. Instead, she was out doing the dangerous things.
Lee had already gotten into a nasty dispute with Valenti and he was now keeping his mouth shut aside from an update from Tamakawa. Nadia had settled the bitter dispute with a simple quip but there was still hostility in the air. Nadia tried hard to ignore it as she stood behind Lee's seat, watching Tamakawa at work.
"He is completely in hypnosis," Tamakawa announced in a calm voice. Indeed he was for the hit man looked dazed yet attentive. He didn't look drugged but he didn't look lively, either. Either way, he still looked like he could splat anyone into a pancake.
Lee turned to Valenti, who nodded stiffly.
"What is your name?"
"Martin Donovan."
Lee typed it down on the computer nearby.
"Who hired you?"
No reply. The hit man---Martin---just blinked. Tamakawa looked at them from the other room.
Nadia frowned as Valenti grunted, "Don't tell me he doesn't know who he works for."
Tamakawa sighed and leaned forward. "Who do you work for?"
Martin made some sort of gurgling sound. "I am a mountain…I am a valley…I am…"
"Crap, the guy's been trained," Valenti cursed. "I knew they wouldn't give that much away just like that. Hey, kiddo," he called Lee, "tell Tamakawa to ask him for details regarding the fractions' plan to take over SD-6."
Lee quickly relayed the message to the doctor, who nodded and then turned back to the hypnotized hit man. He tugged at his tie; he was obviously feeling the pressure from Valenti and the agency in general. His hand shot out and drained the cup of coffee on the desk. "Martin, do you know of any plans regarding your superiors taking over SD-6?" he asked curtly.
"No."
Valenti cursed again.
"Martin," Tamakawa pressed, "why were you sent after Sydney Bristow?"
"To…eliminate her."
"Why, Martin?"
"To pave the way…"
"For whom?"
No response.
Valenti said nothing as Lee typed away the conversation. Nadia watched intently, her eyes narrowed at what was going on in the room in front of them. This was pretty tense and Nadia was rigid at the entire situation. She was so focused on the entire thing that she didn't even realize that Lee was watching her stare into the other room.
"Hey," Lee said gently, "ease up."
She blinked and looked at Lee in surprise. "Why?"
"If you look any harder, you'll turn into a statue."
That brought a small grin on Nadia's lips.
"Martin," Tamakawa inquired, "who is the mole in SD-6?"
No response.
Valenti swore again and Nadia and Lee rolled their eyes. This was going to be a long session.
"I think I should tell him."
Sydney was sitting in the church, facing the altar. She remained in her business attire as she had called in to find out the meeting place. Apparently, Vaughn had chosen a church. In front of her in the next pew sat Vaughn, his dress shirt and tie covered by a Nike spring jacket. She didn't mind sitting behind him, but she hated not seeing his face.
Maybe this was part of his plan.
This caught him by surprise. "What? Who?"
"I think I should tell Sloane about the other fractions against him," she whispered. Although the church was virtually silent, their voices carried easily. She kneeled on the bench and lifted her hands, pretending to be praying. Vaughn, bless his heart, moved a bit to his right to give her some breathing space. "I mean, I can't hide this forever. Sooner or later, he's got to know."
"Unless he already knows."
"Vaughn, he has absolutely no idea where those fluxes are coming from," she told him earnestly. "He's got Marshall on the case, but even he's having a hard time. These fractions are good at what they do. Anyways, I got a handful of people that I think may be the receiver of these command codes. I'm going to tell my father and we'll both drain him---or her---out."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Yeah," she replied, "but you still haven't approved it."
"Approved what?"
She couldn't help rolling her eyes. "Me telling Sloane about these fractions trying to kill me," she told him. "If I tell him, that may make him psyche enough to protect me a little more. No more hit mans like that guy last night."
"But then guys like me won't be able to keep in contact." He looked at her ruefully.
She looked back at him and smiled for a brief moment. This brought a cryptic smile on his lips, a similar one to Nadia's. She suddenly realized how much the two had in common; the cryptic smiles, the positions they take when they're standing and talking, they way they argue. It was like a miniature Vaughn in the making---only in a female form.
"Look, I know it'll be tough," she told him, "but I'll make sure the CIA will find out what's going on---you can count on that." She gave him another re-assuring smile at him. It made him feel a bit better and his eyes show that much to her. Again, just like early this morning, she found herself captivated by his eyes and he couldn't help kissing him.
He accepted the kiss openly. He was the one who released the kiss and kissed the corner of her mouth. "I know you'll find a way," he told her breathlessly as he turned back towards the altar. He then gave her a smile. "You always do."
"I take it that I can tell him?"
"Well, if it's like recruiting Sloane into helping us at the same time, why not?" he asked. "I'm sure that Devlin and the agency would approve it. As long as you don't sell us away or open the door to us, we're okay with it."
She smiled back at him before asking, "Do you think this can work out?"
"What?"
She gestured to herself and him. "You know, you---me---the entire thing."
He sighed heavily. She could figure out that this issue had been in his mind for some quite time now. And she knew that the answer was going to weigh heavily on both of their hearts. It was already smothering hers. "You know what it says about this," he replied slowly. "I can't do some office romance, falling for my employees, that sort of thing. We can't be seen in public, you and I both know that. It's risky as it is with SD-6 informants lying around, but with other fractions involved? It's too risky."
"Says the man who was lectured by his younger niece about risks."
He turned red and looked down.
She sighed. "What's the story with her? How come she lives with you?"
He nodded slowly. It was time to tell the story. "Well, Nadia's father is an old mentor of mine," he explained. "My old boss. I was the family's friend. Whenever Raidon was on trips and missions, which he was frequently on, Nadia would stay in either her mother's place or my place. Since the mother is constantly busy nowadays, she's always at my place. Well---if she's around the area or doing some stuff at HQ, she'd be at my place. Otherwise she'd be at her dorm, studying."
Sydney's watch started to beep. She quickly glanced at it. "I've got ten minutes before my lunch break ends," she informed him with a sigh of regret. She wanted to stay with him in this church for a little longer period of time.
"Yeah, I got to get going too."
As Sydney was beginning to get up, something caught her arm. She looked down to see that Vaughn had grabbed her arm. It was pretty neat as he drew her close for another kiss. It was like a dream of some sort that she was living or like a movie scene that she was watching.
Someone cleared their throat from behind.
They broke the kiss to see a priest standing before them, watching them with a serious look. He was clad in black from head to toe and carried a rosary tangled in his fingers. "Hello, children," he greeted with a flat tone of voice. But the peculiar expression on his face did not match the tone of his voice. "Are you here for confession or are you here for marriage counselling?"
Vaughn and Sydney looked at each other, alarmed, but said nothing.
Chapter Eight
Sydney walked into Credit Dauphine, dressed in a crisp business suit, trying to look as eager as she could to return to work. Outside, she looked calm and normally ready to tackle anything---the slight bruise indicated her recent illness for them. Inside, however, she felt worried and paranoid with her surroundings. After all, she was entering enemy territory but the feeling had heightened ever since she had found out that she was being followed.
The fact that someone was watching her from within was scary.
To add to her moodiness, her argument with Will still crept behind her like some impending storm. She knew that she should've been a little more kinder to him, after all, they'd been friends for over three years, give or take three months. But Vaughn and her own safety was on the line and she couldn't afford that. For Vaughn's sake, she couldn't afford that. But she felt so bad after she had closed the door---she couldn't afford to lose her old friends.
But she couldn't afford to lose Vaughn, either.
It was a lose-lose situation.
She sighed as she entered the actually chambers of SD-6. She walked down the aisle, politely nodding hello and smiling like she did on every other normal day in the office. That is, if she considered her days a normal one.
Dixon, her partner, walked up to her and smiled, kissing her on both cheeks. "Sydney," he greeted, "it's so good to see you back, up and about. I hope that you're feeling a lot better now." His attention drew towards her cheek. Her bruise was still fairly visible but it was slowly healing. "What happened to your cheek?" he asked, pointing at it.
"Oh, that," she said with a dismissive wave. "I fell over yesterday morning and slammed my cheek on the night stand. It hurt like a bastard, but it's a lot better now." She smiled at him. God, how she hated to lie to him, her friend. But she had no choice; she had to cover these things up otherwise Sloane would have her head.
Literally.
Dixon did not detect the lie, if he had at all. "Well, you can check out in the medical department before you leave," he told her. "Come now---Sloane's called on for another mission and we're meeting in a few minutes."
She allowed him to lead the way. She carefully followed his steps behind him, at the same time, her eyes wandered to the various cubicles. People were busy on their phones and on the computer and chatting away. It was a quiet and organized work place. Many of the people she knew only by acquaintance but nonetheless, she examined everyone. They all looked so normal.
This was going to be harder than she initially expected.
They entered the polished conference room. She already saw Sloane sitting at the head of the table, looking out into space. The moment he saw Sydney enter the room, his face became animate as he sat up straight in his chair. She did a polite nod towards him and she saw a faint smile creep alone his thin lips. She turned away; somehow, she couldn't completely bring herself to returning their working relationship back to the way it was---not since Danny's death.
Marshall was also seated, fiddling with something. He looked up to see Dixon and Sydney take their seats and smiled. "H-Hey Sydney---Nice to see you, um, around, um, again."
"Thanks, Marshall."
"No, um---no problem."
Sydney was disturbed to find that her father was not in the room. She had assumed that her father would be attending the meeting but it appears he would be late. Maybe he was at the CIA headquarters at the moment, pre-occupied with the latest developments. Or maybe she was conspiring with some unknown sect---God, she sometimes wished that she wasn't in this life. She wished she was living in an ordinary life. She wished she never took that damned white card.
"Okay," Sloane said, leaning over the table and looking at each member in the eye, "we've gotten a situation here. The computer fluxes have increased randomly from cubicle to cubicle. Half of the computers in the department is non-operatable. Marshall here with explain our situation in a more---detailed outlook." He nodded towards the computer technician.
Marshall got up. "Um, well, it's pretty simple," he said. "After the power drain security leak a few months back, things haven't been at, um, well, peak efficiency. T-There are various leaks that, um, I have been really, um, trying to…er, plug up. The past month, um, it's gotten um, worse. There's something that---that is hitting our main s-sytems and just, um, crashing nodes. Only a, well, a few are style operating at, well, normal capacity."
Sydney found her loophole. "Whose computers are still working?" she asked.
He scratched his head, wincing. "Um…well, Hasina's is um, working. Carl, George, Harriet, Yalila and Ben's are, um, all working…normally," he replied.
"Thank you, Marshall," Sloane replied thinly. He turned to Dixon and Sydney as Marshall fussed back into his seat. "We have a security breach. This is not good---without our computers, we'll be blind to the outside world. We cannot allow this to break out to the remainder of the network. I have our top technicians deep at work, trying to plug this, but the source of these fluxes are virtually unknown. In the meantime, I want you to check all units personally for anything unusual."
"We'll do our best," Dixon assured.
"I know. You are dismissed. Oh, except you, Sydney."
Sydney gulped slightly as she watched Marshall and Dixon exit the room. She felt her heartbeat quicken and the heat slip away from her face. What did Sloane want to talk to her about? Was it over the slip up the night before? Or was it about something worse? Tell me it's just about the bruise on my cheek, she prayed.
"Sydney," Sloane said once the door was closed. He leaned over closer and that movement made a chill run down Sydney's spine. What was he up to? What did he want from her? "It's nice to see you up and about again. I admit, it's been pretty quiet around here without your radiant energy bouncing off the walls." She smiled shyly as he continued, "I must stress, you look a little paranoid and a little distressed."
"Oh," she replied, trying to hide her profound guilt, "it's nothing."
"You sure about it?" he asked gently, his eyes in direct contact with hers. Sydney felt exposed under his watchful eye as underneath the table she shifted weight with great discomfort. "Because if something is bothering you, you can tell me. You can always tell me."
She couldn't deal with it. She got up abruptly. "I have to get to work," she told him stiffly. "I missed a lot of stuff for the past two days. I wouldn't want to be kept behind from everything that's been going on." She tried to hide her shaking legs; she was running on pure fear of being exposed. After what happened with being exposed as a mole, she was afraid of slipping up again.
He leaned back on his desk, folding his fingers on his lap. "Okay," he replied calmly with a gesture of dismissal, a wary smile played on his lips. From there on, she walked as fast as she could out of the conference room.
"Did you find him yet?"
"We're doing our best---but we found this."
"What is it, you idiot?"
"It's a video camera, sir. A small but efficient one."
"Have you run a DNA test?"
"Everything sir---no fingerprints whatsoever."
"How about the component match?"
"Nothing we've ever seen, sir."
"So I'm assuming he's been caught---hmm, Sloane, what are you up to?"
"Um…sir?"
"Well, don't just stand there, you fool, keep searching for Folken!"
"Sir?" Marshall asked, sticking his head into the office of Sloane.
Sloane looked up in mild surprise from a report he was reading, but his expression turned into exasperation when he saw that it was only Marshall. He lifted his free hand and gestured his head technician to enter the office. Marshall bumbled in, shutting the door behind him. Sloane in return placed the report down.
"Yes, Marshall, what can I do for you?" Sloane asked professionally.
Marshall nodded quickly. "I was just updating our server and contacting some…you know, uh, some buddies of mine for some, you know, updates," he explained. "Someone's asking questions about, you know, the entire grid, particularly of some profiles of the….the agents here in SD-6."
This seemed to upset Sloane but he kept it bottled up. "Who is this…inquirer?"
"Some guy n-named Will Tippin…a reporter."
Sloane's eyes widened. "Sydney's friend…"
"Y-Yes sir…"
Sloane nodded and swerved his chair around so Marshall wouldn't see him ponder on the thought. He had already reluctantly ordered the death of Sydney's fiancé, Daniel Hecht, because he was a security leak to SD-6's welfare and now Sydney's friend, the reporter, was sticking his nose in matters that did not concern his. He did not wish to hurt Sydney again but the agency came first, as always. He must straighten out this reporter's curiosity once and for all.
Sloane cleared his throat. "Thank you for informing me of this, Marshall."
"You…You're welcome, sir." He then left the room.
Sloane sat there for a full minute, his fingers pressing against each other in silent thought. He did not wish to do this, but he had to do what was best for the agency. He would have to explain it to Sydney later on…if she ever found out.
He picked up the phone on his table. "Harrison…you know what to do."
"Will," his boss called as she walked up to his cubicle.
Will looked up, his brow furrowed in a frown. He was busy typing away on his laptop and was at first annoyed to hear someone even call his name. After seeing what he saw that morning, he was really to go up and rip someone's throat out. When he saw his boss's annoyed face, he quickly dropped the pissed off act before he got fired.
That's what he was missing---getting fired. That way, his day would be perfect.
"Um…yes, ma'am?" he asked as sweetly as he could.
She dumped a file onto Will's table, making his papers fly off the table. "What the hell did you give me this morning?!" she demanded.
"Um…my article?"
"A piece of crap is what you gave me," she snapped back angrily, slamming her palm onto the folder. She lifted the article and displayed it to him. "I mean, look at it! Look at it! It looks like a two year old's writing! No emotion! No strength! No soul!" She dropped it back onto Will's table and glowered down at him. "I want this retyped and handed back in by four this afternoon otherwise I will kick your butt, William Tippin, out that door and you can kiss your reputation bye-bye!"
"Y-Yes ma'am," Will replied dryly.
His boss turned around, shaking her head. "Where are these kids going to these days."
Will mocked her movements as she exited the working place, grumbling to herself. He then sulked on his seat. No soul…no soul? He's show her soul. Maybe I should write the biography of my life, he thought sullenly. Then she'd understand how much soul he had going on in his mind. And she would also realize how much bad luck I've gotten over the last three years.
He sighed. God, I hate my life, he thought to himself.
He didn't realize that someone had approached his desk. He looked up, ready to snap, when he saw that it was Jenny. She looked visibly concerned as she sat down in front of him. "I heard what the Boss said," she told him. "She doesn't look like a happy champ today."
"When is she ever?" he asked, brushing back his blonde hair. "God, Jenny, how could I have been such a screw-up these past few years? Then again, these problems started coming up ever since Danny proposed to Sydney and then got murdered…" His voice trailed off when he saw Jenny's eyes. He sighed heavily. "Jenny, I just don't know what to do anymore, I don't know how to deal."
He was surprised when Jenny reached across the table and took his hand. "Tell you what," she said, "you need a break. A break from all this." She gestured around in the office. "I'm visiting my brother in San Francisco. You want to come with me?" She smiled and batted her long and delicate lashes. "I swear to you it'll be fun."
Will thought for a moment. It was a very tempting offer and he needed to get away from everything here in Los Angeles. He needed some time to think about everything that had happened the past few months and saw this as the perfect opportunity. What could go wrong? What could he lose? But there was something in his way.
"How do I get the Boss to clear me out?"
She smirked. "Leave that up to me, Will." She then kissed his cheek and ran towards the office with an excuse in mind.
The hit man was in a room, seated across a long table in a small but clean room. He was handcuffed to the chair so he wouldn't attack anyone or try to escape. His eyes were dull as he was under the doctor's trance. Doctor Tamakawa was a short and aging doctor but despite his outward appearance, he was brilliant and his skills were still sharp.
Nadia had never witness a hypnosis until now and she stood behind the glass. Beside her, Valenti stood with a permanent scowl imprinted on his weathered face. She had never seen a man scowl so much in her life. He must be worried, she thought. Then again, so am I. Here I am, witnessing an attempt to glimpse into a murderer's mind---considered that he is one. She shuddered again.
The young officer was introduced as Agent Jason Lee. He was a junior officer who just got into the CIA about a year or two ago and appeared nice and ambitious. He was also a good three to four years old than her. He was currently stationed doing minor things such as surveillence and paperwork but he didn't mind. She had wished she had a job like his, doing the simple work. Instead, she was out doing the dangerous things.
Lee had already gotten into a nasty dispute with Valenti and he was now keeping his mouth shut aside from an update from Tamakawa. Nadia had settled the bitter dispute with a simple quip but there was still hostility in the air. Nadia tried hard to ignore it as she stood behind Lee's seat, watching Tamakawa at work.
"He is completely in hypnosis," Tamakawa announced in a calm voice. Indeed he was for the hit man looked dazed yet attentive. He didn't look drugged but he didn't look lively, either. Either way, he still looked like he could splat anyone into a pancake.
Lee turned to Valenti, who nodded stiffly.
"What is your name?"
"Martin Donovan."
Lee typed it down on the computer nearby.
"Who hired you?"
No reply. The hit man---Martin---just blinked. Tamakawa looked at them from the other room.
Nadia frowned as Valenti grunted, "Don't tell me he doesn't know who he works for."
Tamakawa sighed and leaned forward. "Who do you work for?"
Martin made some sort of gurgling sound. "I am a mountain…I am a valley…I am…"
"Crap, the guy's been trained," Valenti cursed. "I knew they wouldn't give that much away just like that. Hey, kiddo," he called Lee, "tell Tamakawa to ask him for details regarding the fractions' plan to take over SD-6."
Lee quickly relayed the message to the doctor, who nodded and then turned back to the hypnotized hit man. He tugged at his tie; he was obviously feeling the pressure from Valenti and the agency in general. His hand shot out and drained the cup of coffee on the desk. "Martin, do you know of any plans regarding your superiors taking over SD-6?" he asked curtly.
"No."
Valenti cursed again.
"Martin," Tamakawa pressed, "why were you sent after Sydney Bristow?"
"To…eliminate her."
"Why, Martin?"
"To pave the way…"
"For whom?"
No response.
Valenti said nothing as Lee typed away the conversation. Nadia watched intently, her eyes narrowed at what was going on in the room in front of them. This was pretty tense and Nadia was rigid at the entire situation. She was so focused on the entire thing that she didn't even realize that Lee was watching her stare into the other room.
"Hey," Lee said gently, "ease up."
She blinked and looked at Lee in surprise. "Why?"
"If you look any harder, you'll turn into a statue."
That brought a small grin on Nadia's lips.
"Martin," Tamakawa inquired, "who is the mole in SD-6?"
No response.
Valenti swore again and Nadia and Lee rolled their eyes. This was going to be a long session.
"I think I should tell him."
Sydney was sitting in the church, facing the altar. She remained in her business attire as she had called in to find out the meeting place. Apparently, Vaughn had chosen a church. In front of her in the next pew sat Vaughn, his dress shirt and tie covered by a Nike spring jacket. She didn't mind sitting behind him, but she hated not seeing his face.
Maybe this was part of his plan.
This caught him by surprise. "What? Who?"
"I think I should tell Sloane about the other fractions against him," she whispered. Although the church was virtually silent, their voices carried easily. She kneeled on the bench and lifted her hands, pretending to be praying. Vaughn, bless his heart, moved a bit to his right to give her some breathing space. "I mean, I can't hide this forever. Sooner or later, he's got to know."
"Unless he already knows."
"Vaughn, he has absolutely no idea where those fluxes are coming from," she told him earnestly. "He's got Marshall on the case, but even he's having a hard time. These fractions are good at what they do. Anyways, I got a handful of people that I think may be the receiver of these command codes. I'm going to tell my father and we'll both drain him---or her---out."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Yeah," she replied, "but you still haven't approved it."
"Approved what?"
She couldn't help rolling her eyes. "Me telling Sloane about these fractions trying to kill me," she told him. "If I tell him, that may make him psyche enough to protect me a little more. No more hit mans like that guy last night."
"But then guys like me won't be able to keep in contact." He looked at her ruefully.
She looked back at him and smiled for a brief moment. This brought a cryptic smile on his lips, a similar one to Nadia's. She suddenly realized how much the two had in common; the cryptic smiles, the positions they take when they're standing and talking, they way they argue. It was like a miniature Vaughn in the making---only in a female form.
"Look, I know it'll be tough," she told him, "but I'll make sure the CIA will find out what's going on---you can count on that." She gave him another re-assuring smile at him. It made him feel a bit better and his eyes show that much to her. Again, just like early this morning, she found herself captivated by his eyes and he couldn't help kissing him.
He accepted the kiss openly. He was the one who released the kiss and kissed the corner of her mouth. "I know you'll find a way," he told her breathlessly as he turned back towards the altar. He then gave her a smile. "You always do."
"I take it that I can tell him?"
"Well, if it's like recruiting Sloane into helping us at the same time, why not?" he asked. "I'm sure that Devlin and the agency would approve it. As long as you don't sell us away or open the door to us, we're okay with it."
She smiled back at him before asking, "Do you think this can work out?"
"What?"
She gestured to herself and him. "You know, you---me---the entire thing."
He sighed heavily. She could figure out that this issue had been in his mind for some quite time now. And she knew that the answer was going to weigh heavily on both of their hearts. It was already smothering hers. "You know what it says about this," he replied slowly. "I can't do some office romance, falling for my employees, that sort of thing. We can't be seen in public, you and I both know that. It's risky as it is with SD-6 informants lying around, but with other fractions involved? It's too risky."
"Says the man who was lectured by his younger niece about risks."
He turned red and looked down.
She sighed. "What's the story with her? How come she lives with you?"
He nodded slowly. It was time to tell the story. "Well, Nadia's father is an old mentor of mine," he explained. "My old boss. I was the family's friend. Whenever Raidon was on trips and missions, which he was frequently on, Nadia would stay in either her mother's place or my place. Since the mother is constantly busy nowadays, she's always at my place. Well---if she's around the area or doing some stuff at HQ, she'd be at my place. Otherwise she'd be at her dorm, studying."
Sydney's watch started to beep. She quickly glanced at it. "I've got ten minutes before my lunch break ends," she informed him with a sigh of regret. She wanted to stay with him in this church for a little longer period of time.
"Yeah, I got to get going too."
As Sydney was beginning to get up, something caught her arm. She looked down to see that Vaughn had grabbed her arm. It was pretty neat as he drew her close for another kiss. It was like a dream of some sort that she was living or like a movie scene that she was watching.
Someone cleared their throat from behind.
They broke the kiss to see a priest standing before them, watching them with a serious look. He was clad in black from head to toe and carried a rosary tangled in his fingers. "Hello, children," he greeted with a flat tone of voice. But the peculiar expression on his face did not match the tone of his voice. "Are you here for confession or are you here for marriage counselling?"
Vaughn and Sydney looked at each other, alarmed, but said nothing.