Chapter Thirteen
Exposure
An: apparently I love you guys too much to leave you hanging on this one. The explanation is really quite simple. Oh and no Dixon doesn't have a key to Vaughn's room…but this is Alias…who needs a key? Tell me one person who needs a key to get into a measly hotel room? I mean we've established that McKain didn't need a key so you'd think that Dixon and all his training would be able to open a door right? I don't care how you tell yourself that Dixon got in… if you need Dixon to have a key then he had one… he went down to the front desk and told them he forgot his or something and then got a key. If you prefer Dixon kicking down the door…then by all means…he kicked down the door… I just had him picking the lock…how unoriginal… but I hope that clears up that problem because I didn't address it in the fic. All other questions should have been answered. Smiles. Enjoy.
"What's going on here Syd?"
"How did you find me?"
"How did you get in here?"
"Who is he?"
"Why didn't you wait in my room?"
"Ok. Ok. Everyone quiet. Dixon close the door." I ordered from my seat in the corner. Dixon raised an eyebrow at me, then turned to Sydney asking silent questions.
"We're lovers." Syd spit out quickly as she pulled herself to a sitting position and I tried not to smile at the obvious lie. In my dreams maybe.
Dixon gave her a look of disbelief. She turned to me for help and I only nodded. It was pretty weak.
"That's why he is sleeping on the chair and your sleeping in the bed. Sorry Syd not buying it." Dixon admitted.
"Why are you here Dixon?" Sydney sighed and looked away her actions mirroring her guilt. We were going to have to tell him. Not the whole truth if it could be avoided but we'd have to tell him something. She was just delaying the moment and we both knew it.
"I waited in your room for an hour Sydney. I was worried. Then I find a needle in the trash, these on the floor by the bed..." he produced the plastic ties from his pocket. "...and this." he pulled a note out of his other pocket.
"That doesn't explain how you found her." I added. Dixon glared at me. I decided to back off.
"I'm not saying anything else until I find out what's going on here."
"He's a friend from college." still offered too weakly to be believable.
"Sydney." he ordered sternly. He wasn't going to accept her lies.
In the past Sydney had wanted to tell Dixon about SD-6. I'd told her that it was too dangerous, that she couldn't volunteer him for double agent status. Now it didn't look like we had much of a choice.
She turned to me and asked silently. I nodded. Our silent conversation was not lost on Dixon. He knew we were more then casual acquaintances.
"Dixon I work for the CIA." She started slowly.
"Yeah I know. That's not a secret." Dixon interrupted making sure to keep his status covered. Not trusting my presence.
"No Dixon. It's quite the secret. He, Michael Vaughn, is my handler." with a gesture to me. I smiled back at him and he turned away clearly uncomfortable with where this was going. "SD-6 isn't part of the CIA Dixon. You've been lied to."
"Sydney, what's really going on here?" Dixon asked not believing our story. I chuckled. Kind of ironic actually.
We'd worried about exposure all these years, here it was and the truth was just some unbelievable story to him. Dixon shot me a dirty look for my laugh.
God I wished it was just some made up tale.
"Dixon have you heard of the Alliance of twelve?" Dixon nodded. "SD-6 is part of the Alliance. I've spent the last seven years working as a double for the CIA. Did you never wonder at all those times we failed on a mission? Did you never wonder about all the fake artifacts we recovered? Do you remember six years ago when Sloane thought there was a mole? Dixon, I was the mole." She pleaded with him to understand. I could see in her eyes the fear that he wouldn't buy her story.
"No. Syd. If SD-6... I..."
"Dixon think about it. Did anyone ever offer you any proof that you were working for a branch of the CIA..." she turned to me for help.
"When SD-6 was invaded almost seven years ago you contacted Langley for help." I started to explain.
"They never showed up." Dixon interrupted.
"They did Dixon." Sydney took over again. "They had to pull out quickly however because if Sloane had found out then there would have been trouble."
"Berlin? The switched pick up site? Schiller? No one was following you were they?"
"No. Schiller wasn't Schiller but an undercover CIA agent."
"Argentina?"
"CIA extraction team." she answered quickly.
"Badenweiler?" Sydney looked away. She didn't want to tell him. I couldn't blame her. "Badenweiler?" he questioned again.
"It's not important." I broke in. "You don't want to know." I pleaded with him to drop it. Even after all these years it was a particularly sore spot for her. And it would be for him as well, when he found out about it.
He took the hint and the room dissolved into silence.
Sydney was still paying more attention to the wall then the man sitting next to her on the bed. I couldn't help but worry about her. There had been other Badenweiler's along the way and I was sure she was playing back every one of them.
She always felt guilty about things she had no control over. Shifted blame.
"How did you find us?" I finally asked, hoping that it would draw them both out.
"Security cameras in the halls." he offered blankly. "I hacked into them, played back some footage and saw that's she'd left and come here about an hour after McKain left her room..." he was still digesting the previous information and his voice slowly faded into nothing.
"An hour? Are you sure?" Sydney suddenly spun to face him. I let out the breath I'd been holding ever since she'd told me McKain had drugged her.
"Yeah?" Dixon turned to her confused. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek.
"Why did McKain come here anyway?" Dixon asked.
"For this." I offered pulling the vaccine out of the case I'd put it in.
"I thought you said you didn't get it?" Dixon turned to Syd and she offered him a weak smile. "Oh." He turned away from her angry.
"I didn't want to lie to you Dixon. But I didn't have a choice."
"What, you'd rather I keep working for the bad guys and not even know it? What, you'd rather I keep thinking I'm serving the country, that I'm saving the god damn country from people like Hassan, McKain? Damn it Syd you should have told me!" He'd started to pace and Sydney was struggling not to show the hurt he'd inflicted on her.
"It's not like that. She couldn't risk your life. She was doing you a favor. She couldn't volunteer you for double agent duty. She couldn't endanger your family like that. She couldn't make your choice. She's done nothing but worry about how you'll react to this! She hated lying to you! If you want to get mad at someone get mad at me! She doesn't deserve it!" I demanded jumping to my feet, protective nature stepping up to bat.
Dixon and Sydney both just stared at me. Maybe I'd overreacted slightly.
Sydney started to smile and I couldn't stop an answering smile from creeping to my lips. She started to laugh. I couldn't help but join her. Her laugh is and has always been wonderful beyond anything that I've ever had the privilege to hear. It warms the coldest part of you and you find that resisting the urge to join in her chorus is impossible.
This was ridiculous.
Dixon looked at us as if we'd lost it.
"This...is...so...stupid." she got out between laughs. Dixon smiled.
"This is one of your worst nightmares isn't it?" Dixon asked still smiling. Sydney continued laughing but nodded in answer. Dixon turned to me and I confirmed it with a nod of my own.
"There's more to the story isn't there?"
"McKain wants to trade the vaccine for information that could take down SD-6." I admitted between laughs.
God his laugh is sexy. Deep and heavenly.
It wasn't long before Dixon was laughing with us.
This moment was not going anything like I'd imagined it to. But then what ever does.
Maybe I should just stop imagining the worst-case scenario.
It felt good to smile. And as Vaughn's eyes locked on mine I felt wonderful.
"I'm about to buy that lover story." Dixon threw in as our laughter dissolved. We both broke eye contact and looked away quickly. I was certain that my cheeks gave me away, that they turned multiple shades of pink. Dixon chuckled again and I peeked at Vaughn who was like me busy looking elsewhere, and had I not seen it myself I would never have believed it possible, but I did see it, I saw he was also busy blushing.
Which just made him all the more appealing.
"So when do we meet for the switch?" Dixon asked as if it really were that simple.
Maybe it was that simple. Maybe Vaughn and I were just distracting ourselves with useless extra factors.
Maybe we should just swap.
But then there was no guarantee that McKain wouldn't give us false information.
And there was every indication that McKain would sell the vaccine to someone who could use it against us.
"It isn't that simple." Vaughn informed both of us. I agreed with the shake of my head. He was right it wasn't. We couldn't make it that simple either.
"Sydney do you still have the counterfeit?" Vaughn turned to me.
"No. McKain took it with him. Besides he said that the real one has a tag built into the lid. He identified mine as counterfeit easily." I answered glumly.
Dixon started to pace again and Vaughn sat down next to me on the bed.
"We're just going to have to double cross him." I offered. "I'm sure I can handle him. If not I've got you guys." I smiled hoping that Vaughn would go for it. I was worried that after last night he might shoot it down completely.
"I don't like it." Vaughn objected from beside me.
"Why not?" Dixon asked and I turned to him with questioning eyes.
"Syd. I don't think it's a good idea after last night." he tried again being careful not to overstep any lines.
It was sweet but annoying. If I'd known he was going to get all protective of me...
"Vaughn." I intoned slightly irate. "This is my job."
"I still don't like it." he was stubborn I had to give him that.
"It doesn't matter if you like it or not." I answered through a clenched jaw. He was starting to piss me off.
"McKain won't care what you want either." he answered voice full of venom.
"Ok you two. I know that inner office relationships aren't easy but you two just need to step back for a minute. Vaughn she's right. It is her job and she's more then capable." Dixon interrupted.
"We don't have a relationship!" Vaughn exploded at Dixon.
"Whose fault is that anyway?" I asked angrily before thinking.
"As I recall it was you who drew that line." he threw out in my face. Like a slap. It stung.
"I'm not the one who ran off and got married." I taunted. It was hitting low. I knew that. I knew that he regretted his marriage; I knew it still haunted him. I regretted the words as soon as they'd left my mouth.
"Vaughn I'm sorry I..."
"No. No Syd you're right. Go get yourself killed. It's your job." He quickly left his spot next to me and retreated to the balcony.
I watched his form retreat with mouth open. I'd really screwed this one up.
"You ok kiddo?" Dixon asked coming over and sitting next to me.
"I didn't just do that did I?"
"I'm afraid you did." I nodded and let him put his arm around me and pull me close.
"We didn't used to be like this." I stated for no ones benefit. "I used to trust him with all my secrets. He used to believe in me. I don't know if he still does. If he ever can again... Dixon... Do you think he'll ever believe in me again?" My eyes had locked on a spot on the wall.
A rose. A white rose. The pattern on the wallpaper alternated between different flowers, roses, lilies, carnations, and so on. Wrapping around the wall. Closing in and suffocating.
"Syd. I don't think he ever stopped believing in you." Dixon had just met him, he couldn't know. He couldn't know of what Vaughn and I had been through. His words naive and uninformed as they were, were still a comfort.
I smiled up at him.
"You said that you found a note in my room?" I offered breaking away from his hug.
"Always business huh?" he smiled and produced the note.
I frowned as I read it. Maybe Vaughn was right after all. It didn't matter one way or another.
"Bad news?" Dixon asked questioning my frown.
"No and yeah. We gotta get moving McKain wants to meet at eleven." I let the note slip to the bed as I stood up and stretched.
"Would you mind telling Vaughn about the time development? I want to go shower." I knew I was trying to avoid another Vaughn confrontation.
"I think you should Syd."
"I can't. Not now." I flashed him a smile and disappeared out the door before he could object.
an: hmm... I really wanted to make that argument harder... but well it didn't seem like the moment... later on maybe. Yup later on Vaughn and Syd are gonna duke it out. hehehe... You enjoyed it don't lie. There really is no purpose for this author's note. I just like writing them. Because I have a big head and think that everyone wants to know what's going on in it. Deflates head. Sorry bout that. Smiles.