Chapter 21
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Sydney and Dixon in Zurich)
Sydney and Dixon quietly watched Irina from afar, snapping pictures of her speaking to a longhaired man outside a restaurant.
"What do you think they're talking about?"
Dixon did not look at Sydney when he responded, "I don't know. But I think she's talking to Jacques Renoir."
Sydney looked shocked. "Jacques Renoir? Didn't he create the G-Virus?"
"Yes, but why would he be talking to Irina Derevko? She mostly handles sabotage missions."
"Well, you forget she's also The Man," Sydney said absently.
"Yes, I guess you're right." Dixon turned to face Sydney, "Are you ready to go in?"
"Yeah," Sydney said, grabbing a bag from the back of the van.
Sydney entered the restaurant and sat at an unoccupied table. She removed a small digital camera from her bag and pressed a tiny button on the side, which activated the heat sensor mode. Sydney used the heat sensors to locate her mother and soon enough, she found her. From what Sydney could see, Irina and Jacques were making some sort of trade. Sydney snapped a picture of this and then continued her observation. Irina seemed to be handing Jacques a large envelope, while he handed her a large suitcase.
"Excuse me, ma'am, are you ready to order now?"
Sydney politely declined, "No thanks, I'm not ready yet. I'm having a little trouble making out what the menu says. Since I've lost my glasses, it's almost impossible for me to see."
The waiter gave Sydney a smile; "You're American?"
"Why yes, I am. I guess you can tell, huh?"
"Yes, we get many tourists this time of year. If you'd like, I'd be more than happy to translate the menu for you."
"Thanks, that'll be nice."
Sydney snapped a few more shots under the table, hoping she'd get something relevant.
"And finally, we have the sirloin steak…"
"You know what?" Sydney interrupted. "I think I'll just have some ice tea and a salad, if that's not too much trouble for you."
The waiter gave Sydney a look of annoyance, but later shook it off, "No, not at all."
As soon as the waiter left, Sydney attempted to take a few more shots of her mother but quickly found out that she was gone. Sydney made her way out of the restaurant, and back into the van.
"You through so soon?"
"Yeah, I couldn't take anymore without causing any suspicion. Anyway, I would have had to pay for my order," Sydney said, smirking.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Back in L.A)
"As we all know by now, Irina Derevko is somehow affiliated with Jacques Renoir."
Sydney clung onto every word that Sloane said regarding her mother, "What do you think the relation is between those two? I mean, Renoir creates biological weapons."
"Yes, he's mostly known for creating the world's most lethal viruses and selling them to whoever can afford it. Renoir's made some pretty well known viruses in fact, such as Anthrax and his most recent one, the G-Virus. I'm sure you've all heard about that. Unfortunately, he hasn't quite perfected it yet, and there are plenty of people over in the Middle East who would love to get their hands on it."
"So that's what he and Derevko were trading," Dixon interrupted. "I mean, I've read her file and it's quite impressive. She's known for some pretty notorious things."
At the mention of Irina's career, Jack's face twitched a bit.
"Yes, well she's also known to be quite good at counter-intelligence. You see, the pictures and audio that you have taken indicate that she traded some very valuable information with Renoir regarding the completion of his G-Virus. In return, he gave her the last known Rambaldi artifact. No one knew it even existed until now."
"Do you know what it was?" Sydney asked, looking concerned.
"Yes, it appears to be another book written by Rambaldi."
"So you want us to retrieve the book?" Dixon interrupted.
"No, not yet. I still want to monitor her activities before we pursue anything else. Well, I think we've covered enough today. I'll see you all tomorrow."
As Jack and Sloane exited the room, Dixon pulled Sydney to the side. "Come by my house tonight. We need to talk."
Sydney was petrified, but clearly didn't show it. "What for?"
"You just haven't come by in awhile. I thought you could have dinner with us tonight," Dixon lied.
"Um, sure, I'd love to."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter22
Francie quietly reviewed her History notes when a knock at the door startled her. "I'm coming!"
Francie opened the door to find Will there, "Will! I thought you were in rehab?"
Will gave Francie a look of disappointment, "No, I wasn't in rehab."
"Oh, but Syd told me that…"
"I was at a psychiatric ward, ok?" Will interrupted.
"Oh…umm…well, I'm glad you're back. I've missed you. And what happened to your face?" Francie asked, looking concerned.
"It's nothing. I was robbed on my way over there."
"Did they catch the guy?"
"No, but all he took was my wallet…which had like ten bucks."
Francie gave Will a smile, "Ok, so are you just gonna stand there, or are you gonna come in?"
Will walked through the door, "Uh, where's Syd? I wanna talk to her about something."
"Oh geez, Will, I hope it's not about Danny's murder again…"
Will looked at Francie surprised, "No…no, what would make you think that?"
"Come on, Will. Every time you say you want to talk to Sydney, it's always about the same thing…Danny. Either that, or you end up kissing her!"
Francie slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. "I'm so sorry, Will, that came out of nowhere."
"It's ok, really. It's just that I needed to talk to Sydney about this whole anxiety disorder of mine," Will said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, well, she's at Dixon's house. Why don't you talk to me about it?"
Will sighed, "Well, I just didn't want to complicate things for you. I mean, this restaurant thing must be so stressful. I just didn't want to bother you."
"Will, you can always talk to me about anything. I mean, you're my bud," Francie said, giving Will a hug. "Now…tell me about this whole anxiety disorder situation. I mean, you seem pretty well put together…well, most of the time, that is."
"You know what…I don't think it's a really good idea for me to be talking about it right now. I thought I was ready to talk about it, but I guess not."
Will headed towards the door, "Thanks Fran."
"No problem. And, Will, remember what I said…you can talk to me about anything."
Will looked at Francie for a brief moment. Wishing he could tell her about Sydney. About all the lies…but instead, he kissed her on the cheek and hugged her tightly.
"What was that for?" Francie asked, looking confused.
"Just for…just for being you."
Francie looked at Will, astonished, "Ok."
Will got in his car and drove away, while Francie watched.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So Sydney, how are you these days? It's been awhile since you've stopped by," Mrs. Dixon said, slicing up the meat loaf.
Sydney smiled, "I'm doing good, thanks. So, where're the kids? I've noticed that it's been a little quiet lately."
Mrs. Dixon let out a short laugh, "They're sleeping over their grandma's. Marcus thought it'd be good to have a little peace and quiet. And for once, I agree with him," she said, patting Dixon's shoulder.
Mrs. Dixon noticed that her husband wasn't eating, "Marcus, honey, are you all right? You've haven't touched your meal yet."
"I'm actually not feeling too well. If Sydney's done, I'd like to discuss a little business with her," he said giving his wife a smile.
"Sure, if Sydney's finished."
"Yeah, thank you for having me. The dinner was fabulous."
"Thank you, Sydney. Well then, if you'll excuse me, I have some dishes to tend to."
Dixon kissed his wife good night, "Thanks, honey."
"You're welcome, but it would have been better if you ate something."
Dixon gave his wife a sweet smile, "I know, I know. Good night."
She turned to her husband and then to Sydney, "Don't stay up too late, you two."
As Dixon's wife left, he led Sydney to his den.
"So, what did you to talk to me about?"
Dixon ignored Sydney and removed something form his desk, "Here, listen to this."
Sydney looked confused, "Ok, what is it?"
"Just listen to it."
*AUDIO CLIP*
"A mole…who?"
"Well, we recently found out that the first mole was Steven Haladki, but now your father thinks there might be someone else. As to who…we really don't know."
"Sydney, I'd prefer that you and I should hold off telling the CIA any valuable information regarding SD-6 or any of its affiliates. Not until we know for sure who the mole really is."
"All right."
"Sydney, when I mean CIA, that includes Vaughn."
"Your father' s right, Sydney. Right now, it's not safe for you to tell me anything. We don't know who could be listening."
*END AUDIO CLIP*
Sydney looked absolutely horrified, "Where did you get this?"
"It doesn't matter where I got it," Dixon said, looking Sydney straight in the eye. "Sydney, you swore to me that nothing was going on, but this clearly shows you're lying. So now I want the truth."
"Dixon, I can't."
"If you're worried that SD-6 is listening, they're not. I scrambled their connection; we're good for about an hour. Now, tell me what I want to hear, Sydney. No more lies."
"Dixon, if I told you, it would be putting your life and your family's life on the line. And I know you're not willing to risk their lives, so just forget about this."
"Sydney, I need to know who I'm working for here." Dixon paused for a moment, "Remember what I told you the first day we met? Without trust, we have nothing."
"Yeah."
"Well Sydney, I trust you with my life. Do you trust me with yours?"
"Of course, Dixon. You know I do."
"Well then Sydney, trust me with this."
Sydney paused for a moment then decided to tell Dixon everything. "All right, I'll tell you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 23
"Dixon, what I'm about to tell you may seem unbelievable, but it's true."
Dixon crossed his arms, "Ok, I understand."
"SD-6 is not a black ops division of the CIA. Instead, they're enemies of the United States. SD-6 is part of a branch of the Alliance. We've worked for the enemy the whole time."
Dixon remained silent, "Dixon, I'm sorry you had to find out like this."
"Sydney," Dixon paused, trying to think of what to say. "I want in."
"What…Dixon, no!"
"Sydney, I know how you must feel about SD-6. You feel betrayed because of what they've done to Danny. But think about how I feel right now. Knowing that I've been lied to all these years and that I've been helping the enemy."
"I know, Dixon…Believe me, I know."
"You know, every night, I go to bed knowing that I've served my country well. No matter how bad things may have gotten, I was proud to be an agent of SD-6…Proud, can you believe that? Now…I don't know what to feel. Should I feel regret or…or shame," Dixon covered his face with his hand.
"Dixon, I want you to meet someone."
"So you mean, I'm in?"
"Well, not yet. I have to talk things over with someone first. And I don't think he'll be too pleased. Not to mention when my father finds out…" Sydney said, smiling.
Sydney and Dixon were in a car, on their way to the warehouse.
"Sydney, who'd you call back at the house?"
"My handler. Michael Vaughn."
"Oh, so he's who I'm going to meet with?"
"Yes. But you picked a wrong time to become a double. There's a mole within the CIA, and right now we really don't know who to trust."
"So I've heard. But Sydney, how can you be so sure that you can trust this Vaughn?"
"Believe me, I can trust him. He's helped me out countless times when I screwed up."
Dixon remained silent, as if he were having second thoughts, "Dixon, it isn't too late to change your mind."
Dixon gave Sydney an intense look. "No, I want to do this."
"Ok then." Sydney paused for a moment, parking her car in front of the warehouse. "All right, we're here."
Dixon and Sydney walked over to where Vaughn was standing. Vaughn watched Sydney come closer and was shocked to see Dixon emerge from the shadows.
"Sydney, what are you doing?! You know you're not supposed to be contacting me yet…and what is Dixon doing here?"
"Vaughn, calm down. Vaughn, Dixon. Dixon, Vaughn," Sydney said, introducing them to one another.
Vaughn shook Dixon's hand, "We've met on a previous occasion."
Sydney looked confused, "Where?"
"Back in Denpasar. You didn't know it, but I was the one who…" Vaughn said gesturing to the back of his neck.
Dixon gave Vaughn a weak smile; "Yes, I remember it quite well."
"Would you excuse me for a bit? I need to have a word with Sydney."
"Certainly."
Vaughn pulled Sydney aside and whispered to her, "Sydney, what did you think you were doing bringing him here?"
"Vaughn, Dixon already knows everything."
"I bet he does! Sydney, how do you know you can even trust him. What if he reports this to Sloane? My God, Sydney what were you thinking?"
"Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking. Look, Vaughn, Dixon…I consider him family. He's always looked out for me just like a father would. So I'm sorry if I told him the truth, but he followed us, and he heard everything. So how was I to explain that?"
Vaughn's forehead creased. He knew he couldn't beat Sydney in an argument, so he gave in. "All right."
Sydney and Vaughn walked back toward Dixon.
"All right, Dixon, you're in," Sydney said.
"Ok."
"Well, not yet, you're not," Vaughn interrupted. "I have to check that with Devlin."
"When?"
"I don't know. I'll run it by your father first. By the way, does he know about this?"
Sydney sighed, "No, he doesn't."
"Well, he won't be pleased."
"Yeah, I know. So, are you done here?"
"Yeah, we're done. Nice meeting you again," Vaughn said offering Dixon his hand. Dixon kindly accepted it. "You too."
