Chapter Six- Decisions
Los Angeles
Safe HouseWill paced across the safe house's wood floor for what felt like the one thousandth time today. He walked up to the observation mirror, leaned against it, and sighed.
"You said I could go home tomorrow. That was on Monday. In case you haven't noticed, in…" Will glanced down at his watch, "two hours it will be Thursday. Now I know the government can be kind of slow about doing things, but this is getting ridiculous. I know you people are out there because I can hear one of you coughing and I also know that you haven't forgotten about me since you've been feeding me regularly—which is very nice by the way, thanks—so why don't one of you come in here and answer my questions."
Will glared into the mirror for a second and then resumed his pacing.
"You're keeping me here because you don't know what to do with me, is that it? You think that if you leave me to my own devices for too long, I'll do something stupid again. Or maybe you think that Sydney's supposedly long dead mother or some SD-6 member will come hunt me down and blow my head off. Or do you think that by keeping me locked up here for long enough, I'll have enough time to think about how unsafe my life is and decide to join the Witness Protection Program? Well that's not going to happen."
Will stopped pacing and stared straight into the glass, "I've already told you, I want to work for the CIA."
Outside CIA Headquarters Jack and Sydney walked towards Sydney's car, continuing their conversation. "How can you think that making Audrey a double agent is a good idea? She's Sloane's daughter, Sydney."
Sydney paused at her car door, "Dad this is Audrey we're talking about. She's like a sister to me, she's your goddaughter—she's family."
Jack sighed, "Sydney, think about what you're saying. I know you care for her, but we have to be careful. There are already too many people who know about our double agent status. With such close contact how can we be sure that she wouldn't accidentally let some information slip? Sloane is a manipulative bastard, if he thinks she's hiding something, he'll find a way to get the information out of her."
Sydney looked at Jack with a mixture of disbelief and horror on her face, "Do you really think that he would harm his own daughter?"
Jack shrugged, "He killed his wife. Look, Sydney, it is way too soon to even be discussing this. I understand that you want to trust Audrey, but can you even say you really know her anymore? Look at what she's kept hidden from her father. I can't allow ourselves to get into a situation where our cover could be blown."
Sydney nodded at Jack. "I understand. It was silly of me to even suggest telling Audrey the truth." She paused and glanced down at her watch. "I should go now, with all that's happened in the last couple of days I haven't had the chance to visit Will."
Dublin
Downtown- Laura Bristow's OfficeLaura, Sark, and Khasinau all watched intently as Vaughn slowly opened his eyes and glanced around the room. Laura felt a small bit of satisfaction when she heard Vaughn gasp as he took in his surroundings.
"How's your head?" she asked.
Vaughn struggled to sit up and then looked into Laura's eyes. "Who are you? Who am I?"
Sark snorted and pulled out his gun and waved it around in Vaughn's face. "Don't play that game with us Agent Vaughn. You know perfectly well who everyone is. And the reasons why you're here."
Vaughn closed his eyes and shook his head, attempting to block out the site of Sark and his gun. "I swear, I have no idea what is going on. God help me, I can't remember anything!"
Laura pulled Sark away from Vaughn and stepped closer to the trembling and visibly upset agent, "If this is a ploy, I will kill you."
Vaughn, near tears, responded, "I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I can't remember my name, where I live, anything. And I really don't know why you people are standing over me waving guns in my face."
Sark reached into Vaughn's jacket and pulled out his CIA ID, "Maybe this will refresh your memory," he said as he tossed the ID to Vaughn.
Vaughn took the ID and studied it carefully, reading the facts out loud as he did so, "Agent Michael Vaughn. Born in Normandy France in 1968." Vaughn shrugged and tossed the ID back on the bed. "How do I know this is really me?"
Khasinau finally spoke. "There's a picture on it." He added the word "idiot" in Russian under his breath.
Laura sighed and asked incredulously, "You don't even remember what you look like?"
Vaughn looked like he was going to cry as he responded, "No! I don't remember anything. Now someone please tell me what's going on."
Khasinau looked like he was growing impatient, "You are an agent with the CIA. We know that you are somehow involved with an SD-6 agent. That particular SD-6 agent has something we want. If she doesn't give us what we want, we will kill you. That's all you need to know."
Vaughn took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "How do I know you people are telling the truth? That story of yours sounds a little far fetched."
Sark smirked at Vaughn, "You don't know that we're telling the truth. That's what makes this so much fun."
With that Sark and Khasinau exited the room leaving Laura and Vaughn to stare at one another. Laura tossed Vaughn his ID again, "Here. You hang on to this, maybe it will jog your memory. I'll come back later to see if you've remembered anything." Laura turned on her heel and left the room.
Vaughn leaned back heavily against the pillows, put his hand over his eyes and muttered "Where the hell is Sydney?" under his breath.
Sark paced his mother's office like a caged animal. "He's lying. I can tell he's lying. I think we should just go in there and shoot him right now."
Laura watched her son pace up and down the room and shook her head. Everything that had happened recently had made the usually calm and collected Sark a pile of nerves.
She looked her son in the eye. "Alexander please calm down. We have to take into account the fact that the man has suffered a massive head injury recently. He could very well have amnesia. Therefore we are not going to kill him."
Sark snorted. "So, are you developing a soft spot for Agent Vaughn? You just don't want to kill him because he's Sydney's boyfriend."
Laura sent a reproachful glance in Sark's direction, "That's enough Alexander. Lets just wait and see what happens."
Los Angeles
Safe HouseWill sat listlessly on the couch, staring at the television. The CIA agents assigned to watch him still were ignoring him, and he still hadn't heard anything from Sydney. Will's ears perked up at the sound of a knock at the door.
"Please let that be Sydney," he muttered under his breath as he hurried to answer the door. Will threw open the door. "Syd! Thank goodness, you're here."
Sydney walked into the room and hugged Will. "You look much better than the last time I saw you."
Will half-smiled at Sydney, knowing that she was just being nice. He knew he still looked terrible; while the cuts had healed, the bruises on his face looked as painful as ever. "Where were you? I've been here for days. Nobody answers any of my questions- hell, no one even wants to talk to me. What's going on?"
Sydney sighed and sat down on the couch. "I'm sorry I've been gone for so long. When I got back from Taipei, I found out Emily Sloane had died. It was just such a shock that I needed some time alone."
Will gasped. "Oh, Sydney, I'm so sorry. Emily seemed like such a nice woman when I met her."
Sydney nodded, closing her eyes in order to compose herself. "She was a wonderful person. But, I can't talk about that now. I'm here because the agents tell me that you've decided that you want to work for the CIA. I know we've discussed this before, but I still don't think it's a good idea. Can you really say that you are prepared to handle what happened in Taipei on a regular basis? Will, I'm not saying this to scare you, but you have to understand the risks and sacrifices that come with this job. It feels like my life has turned into one endless mission. I can't tell a friend from a foe; I don't know who to trust anymore. These people, the ones who tired to kill you, and countless others like them have turned into one faceless mass to me."
Will looked Sydney in the eye. "How can you stand it?"
Sydney looked at Will thoughtfully for a while. "Will, I'm so tired of it all, but I know that what I'm doing will make a difference. That's what gets me through every mission. Every time someone points a gun in my face or something bad happens to an ally…" Sydney paused, thinking of the CIA agents who were killed when Dixon blew up the building in Germany.
She continued, "…I think about how we are getting closer to their ultimate destruction."
Will encouraged Sydney, "Sydney, you know that I'm right here to listen to you."
Sydney closed her eyes and sighed, "You don't want to know what happens to me."
Will nodded, "I do."
Sydney looked Will over carefully. "Well, I can't tell you everything. You do understand that?"
Will nodded. "I understand. Please tell me what happened in Taipei."
Sydney took a deep breath and answered Will. "I was sent to Taipei on a mission. I can't tell you why, but during the course of the mission I was taken hostage by my mother."
Will held up his hand to stop Sydney. "Did you know that your mother had been alive all this time?".
Sydney shook her head. "I only discovered that she was alive recently. She had faked her own death."
"I'm sorry Sydney, if this is difficult for you to talk about. You don't have to go any further if you don't want to."
Sydney got up and walked over to the window. "No, I haven't been able to talk about this with anyone for so long. It feels good to get it off my chest. Anyway, all this time I knew she was alive, but I didn't know where she was or where I could find her. I certainly did not go to Taipei thinking that I would bump into her, but events transpired. My mission to steal The Circumference did not go according to plan."
Sydney paused, remembering the look in Agent Vaughn's eyes as he struggled against the water. "I was knocked unconscious by a guard and when I woke up later, there she was." Sydney sighed and trailed off.
"So you're telling me that after all these years of mourning your mother, she's still alive. And now you're saying she isn't the kind of person you had always thought she was?", Will asked.
Sydney nodded, "She has been the mastermind behind some pretty bad schemes. When I was in Taipei my CAI handler Agent Vaughn, was kidnapped by her. I have to go to New York on Saturday to meet with one of her contacts. Which brings me to one of the reasons why I came here- Will, I need you to stay here until Agent Vaughn is brought back home."
Will started to protest, but Sydney continued speaking. "Please, Will. I don't know if I'll be here to protect you if someone comes after you. You don't know what these people are capable of. Just wait until this whole ordeal is over. That's all I ask."
Will sighed. "I'll stay here for you. But you need to understand that I got myself into this and I need to take responsibility for my actions."
Sydney smiled and got ready to leave. "It's getting late and I should get ready to go home. Francie is probably wondering where I am."
Will grabbed Sydney's arm. "Does she know?"
Sydney shook her head. "Francie doesn't know anything. And I'd like to keep it that way. Goodbye, Will. I'll see you when I get back."
Will watched Sydney walk out the door. "Bye Syd. Be careful."
Sydney closed the door behind her and sighed. She hated that the still had to lie to Will, she knew her mother was finished with him but she wasn't sure if SD-6 had heard about Will's story almost being printed and she didn't want to give Will something else to worry about.
SD-6 HeadquartersSloane walked into his office Thursday morning and stared at the phone, willing it to ring. It had been almost four days since he had put in the call to eliminate Agent Dreyer, but the agent was nowhere to be found. Sloane sat down at his desk and tried not to break the pencil he was fiddling with.
He was so focused on the phone, that he jumped when he heard a knock at his door. "Come in."
Sloane looked up to see Sydney hesitantly entering his office. "Good morning Sydney." He gestured for her to come sit down. "Have a seat."
Sydney sat down, looking uncomfortable. "If this is a bad time I can come back."
Sloane shook his head. "Now is a fine time. You're probably wondering why I wanted to see you."
Sydney nodded. "Well I'm sure you know by now that my daughter is coming to work here."
Sydney nodded again, "I spoke to her yesterday. She seemed excited about it."
"She is. That's the problem." Sloane sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes as he did so. "All her life I've tried to shield her from this… life of ours. And then one day I find out that she has been brought into it by someone I thought I could trust."
Sydney interrupted Sloane. "You mean Agent Dreyer."
Sloane nodded. "Yes, Dreyer. Audrey tells me he recruited her while she was in college and told her to keep quiet about it. He's being dealt with. And now that she's revealed how much she knows about SD-6 to me, I've had no choice but to bring her in. That's the last thing that I want to do, but experience indicates I have no choice. Which brings me to why I need your help. I know you are close with Audrey, so I want you to monitor her."
"Wait, what do you mean by monitor her? You don't trust her?" Sydney interrupted.
Sloane shook his head. "I trust her. I don't want you to tail her, if that's what you're thinking. What I want you to watch for is details of the past few years that she may mention to you in conversation."
Sydney nodded her head, understanding Sloane as he spoke. "You want me to get her to mention names of other SD-6 operatives she may have had contact with."
Sloane nodded. "Names, places, anything that you think is important. I'd appreciate it."
"I'll do what I can." Sydney glanced at Sloane. "Is that all?".
Sloane got up from his desk and went to open his office door. "That's all for now."
Sydney exited Sloane's office and went in search of Dixon. They hadn't had much time to speak with each other during the past week and Sydney was anxious to see how he was doing. Sydney found Dixon sitting at his desk, staring at his computer screen. "Dixon, are you okay?"
Dixon glanced up, startled. "Yeah Syd, I'm fine. I was just thinking about… things."
Sydney nodded knowingly, understanding how it felt to have so much information dumped on you shoulders so suddenly. "If you ever need to talk about anything, you know I'm here."
Dixon nodded at Sydney, giving Sydney a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "Thanks, Syd. I appreciate that."
In Sloane's office, the phone on his desk rang and he quickly snatched it up.
"Yes… you did. Wonderful… Wouldn't admit to anything? Well I expected that… Yes, your work is appreciated… What is it?… New York? No, I have no idea why she would be going there… Tail her and keep me informed of her actions… Goodbye."
Sloane set his phone back down, wondering why Sydney had booked herself a flight to New York.
New York
Manhattan- Central Park- Strawberry FieldsSydney walked into Central Park, marveling at the fact that such a beautiful place as this could grow in the heart of a huge city. Approaching Strawberry Fields, Sydney glanced around with the purpose of sighting her father. Relieved that he was no where in sight, Sydney reached her destination and stood waiting for her contact to appear. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Hello, Sydney."
Turning around, Sydney was surprised to see Sark grinning at her. She raised her eyebrows and said in a surprised voice, "So our mother has you doing her grunt work, does she?"
Sark laughed at Sydney's comment and gestured at a nearby bench. "I actually volunteered to go on this little excursion, believe it or not. Why don't we go sit down and discuss our business?".
They walked over to the bench and sat down.
"What does she want?" Sydney asked, wanting to get to the point as quickly as possible.
Sark shook his head. "I'll save that for Mum to tell you. We're here to discuss Agent Vaughn."
Sydney stared into Sark's eyes. "If you hurt him…" Sydney began before Sark cut her off.
"Sydney! I'm insulted. Do you really think I would hurt your boyfriend?". Sydney opened up her mouth to respond, but was quickly cut off by Sark. "Oh, I know. You won't admit to that, but please. Anyone with half a brain and a pair of eyes could see your true feelings for Agent Vaughn."
Sydney narrowed her eyes. "You know nothing about me or my relationship with Agent Vaughn. What have you done with him?"
Sark smiled at Sydney. "There's actually a funny story behind that. It seems your Agent Vaughn has a case of amnesia. Or at least he claims to have amnesia."
Sydney gasped. "Tell me why I am here. Where is Agent Vaughn?"
Sark smirked at Sydney. "He's still with our mother and Mr. Khasinau. Don't worry though, they won't hurt him. This trip was a test."
Sydney was outraged. "What the hell do you mean a test? I don't believe this shi…"
Sark held up his hand. "Language, Sydney. We needed to know that you were completely willing to go the distance to recover Agent Vaughn. You'll be informed of the real first step soon."
Sydney stared at Sark as if he were crazy. "What good is Agent Vaughn to you? Release him now. You won't get what you want from me until Agent Vaughn is returned safely."
Sark laughed. "Sydney, you will play by our rules. As long as you cooperate, Agent Vaughn will live. Consider this an extended vacation for him. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some important business to deal with."
Sark got up from the bench and stared Sydney in the eyes. "Think about what I've just said, or I'll make sure that Agent Vaughn comes home to you in a body bag."
With that Sark walked off, leaving Sydney alone on the park bench, struggling to contain her anger. Sydney got up from her place on the bench and stalked out of the park, no longer admiring its beauty.
Sark walked down a path in the park, still enjoying the memory of Sydney's reaction. "That was more fun than I thought it would be."
Glancing around to find the proper exit to get to Madison Avenue, he failed to notice the figure advancing on him from behind. As he approached the secluded area, he felt an arm grab him across his chest.
"Don't struggle with me," were the last words Sark heard before everything went black.
End Episode Six
To be continued in Part Two…